By J. L. OKELLO-OKELLO
May 4, 2004
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Since the attainment of political independence in 1962, Uganda has had nine heads of state. Its East African neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania, have each had three. The turnover in Uganda is, therefore, uniquely high in the region. If the rapid changes in the Presidency had been made through free and fair multiparty competitive elections, Uganda could have qualified to be one of the most democratic countries in the world. Unfortunately, the high turnover of Presidents in Uganda is brought about by the political instability the country has experienced. Attempts to get multiparty democracy entrenched in Uganda have always been shot down by those who use the gun as a short-cut to political power. The late terrible dictator Idi Amin Dada was the first to do this in 1971. He then outlawed all political parties. It tool eight years to remove him. In 1979, after the ouster of Idi Amin, the new Uganda leaders, most of whom had lived in exile throughout Idi Amin's rule, returned and started preparing the stage for their continued staying in power instead of preparing the country for the resumption of multiparty politics. This was because they themselves had no political support at the grassroot. They wanted to keep themselves in power while at the same time keeping political parties in abeyance. This plunged the country into terrible political instability. The first multiparty competitive elections since 1962, were held in 1980. After that election, the losers went to the bush to fight a democratically elected government of Uganda. In two years' time, it will be another 18 years without another multiparty competitive election being held in Uganda. The reasons why Uganda has failed to sustain viable multiparty democracy are varied. One enemy that is against the development of multiparty democracy and political maturity, are the elite of Uganda, who should provide leadership to the largely ignorant masses. A great majority of our elite today have become hostages of economic and political survival - courtesy of individual merit ushered in by the Movement. They have sacrificed their intelligence and principles at the altar of money. The disunity that has been promoted among the people of Uganda under the Movement is another major contributing factor to political instability. Over the last 18 years, Uganda has been sharply and sadly divided into two parts -South-western and North-eastern Uganda. The former is peaceful, prosperous and developing. The latter has been kept constantly insecure; people being abducted, tortured, maimed and killed in large numbers; wallowing in abject poverty; with about 1.4 million people herded into squalid internment camps without the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, clean water and medication. The divide between is so clear that if we were honest the country would now be having two types of passport: one for South-western Uganda and the other for North-eastern Uganda. The internment camps were initiated by government in 1997 to remove the Acholi from the countryside so that they are not killed in crossfire between the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the national army. Other reasons were to protect the people from abduction by the rebels and deny the rebels intelligence and food supply. The measure, which was intended to last only about six months, has now not only taken seven years, and spread from Acholi to Lango to Teso, covering almost precisely the areas which did not vote overwhelmingly for the President in the last two Presidential elections. The camps were originally called "protected villages". But when LRA started defying that "protection" and began to abduct and kill people within the "protected villages," the camps were renamed "Internally Displaced Persons' Camps". The word "protected" has been conveniently but quietly dropped. These camps are the worst humanitarian tragedy that has befallen the people of North-eastern Uganda. Instead of making genuine efforts to end the war, those with power seem bent on the use of clever and psychological tricks to play upon the brokenness of the people in order to attract them to a certain way of thinking. The 18-year ban on political party activities by the ruling Movement has done irreparable damage to Ugandans. All this time, the people have been denied opportunity to hear alternative views. Transparency International (TI) has from time to time rated Uganda one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In a corrupt situation like the one we have, where money speaks loudly, genuine democratic practices cannot thrive. The Movement has sustained itself in power using basically two methods: wanton use of public funds to buy support; and the use of violence against political opponents as witnessed in past elections. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant ... I believe that what self-centred men have torn down, men other-centred can build up". The people of Uganda will no doubt one day regain control of their destiny. High-level ignorance among the rural population and the absence of a developed civil society are the other factors contributing to political instability. The rural peasants live in total darkness. The recent mushrooming of state-armed tribal militias in north-eastern Uganda is a dangerous new development in our politics. This is being done without any enabling law. Tribal militias have never been a substitute for a national army or a solution to a political problem. In my estimation, Uganda might unwittingly be following very close on the heels of Somalia, or the Hema-Lendu situation of the eastern D.R. Congo (DRC) that might one day be replicated in Uganda. Uganda is one of a few countries without a political roadmap. No one knows what will happen in Uganda, politically, in the next two or three years. This is because power seems to have gone into the heads of the ruling clique. The clique has apparently decided that Ugandans will either have their country with them (the clique) as the only leaders or lose both. We require immediate external help, especially from the Commonwealth, the donors, the African Union, and the East African Community. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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