From today's Guardian:

James 'Fat Boy' Onen has been speaking in the UK of his fight against superstition and religion in Uganda

"An atheist talkshow host and 12 "like-minded people" are attempting to tackle superstition, mysticism and witchcraft in Uganda. James "Fat Boy" Onen is an on-air presenter for Sanyu FM and a co-founder of Freethought Kampala. Through Facebook campaigns, newspaper articles and regular monthly meetings, Onen believes Freethought Kampala is providing the only rational platform for tackling superstition in Uganda."

"This month, Onen has been speaking at events around the UK after being invited by the British Humanist Association (BHA). Addressing small gatherings, he said everyday Ugandans were over-reliant on a "mixed bag" of belief in black magic and Pentecostal Christianity."

He told a story of how a Ugandan primary school was shut down because "demons had possessed the children and the management couldn't keep the children under control". Pastors were called but to no avail, explained Onen, who says the children demonstrated symptoms of mass hysteria. This story was not a one-off and was all too common, he said. Meanwhile, Aids victims die because their spiritual leaders advise them not to take antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), he claimed. On top of this, Uganda lives under the shadow of the proposed anti-gay bill, which suggests the death penalty in some cases.

"Onen "came out" as an atheist in 2008 after a spate of reports on child sacrifice. He said reading all the "bullshit" about superstition and witchcraft in the press made him co-found Freethought Kampala. "I decided that enough was enough. I and some like-minded individuals decided that we should get together to make a rational viewpoint part of the national conversation."


The whole article + criticism is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...sts-james-onen