{UAH} Democracy not coming soon in Uganda

Democracy not coming soon, let's live with it

Columnists

SUNDAY, 05 OCTOBER 2014 20:48

WRITTEN BY PIUS MUTEEKANI KATUNZI

1 COMMENTS

Democracy isn't coming home. Everybody knows it (at least everyone capable of knowing).

But false hope has become an obstinate emotion! It is entrenched in our psyche, disabling our rational minds.

A lot has been written about the sacking of the former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and the subsequent withdrawal of military guards from his home. Many have characterised this decision as 'arbitrary, undemocratic and a peep into the dark side of the president.

There is nothing unusual that the president did. Was Mbabazi supposed to hold the job for eternity? And were you surprised that Mbabazi had to go the way he did? If you were, I don't think Mbabazi is surprised and that may explain why he decided to keep quiet about that particular matter.

In 2007, while news editor of the then The Weekly Observer, I was summoned, at about 8pm, to Postel building, which then housed the Office of the Prime Minister. I met a senior minister and historical member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).

This gentleman had been misled by the state intelligence hands, that we were preparing a salacious story about President Museveni's family and, therefore, he wanted to advise me against publishing it. There was no story of that kind.

When I arrived in his office, the minister asked whether I knew the closest person to the president. I shot off a few names but he rejected them. He sarcastically told me that he knew I knew the truth but I was playing monkey with him. Anyway, after letting off a loud laughter, he told me the person.

As we were about to end our conversation, he reminded me that Museveni is a good leader but he is unforgiving and ruthless when one tries to make him uncomfortable about three things: "his power, his army, and his family." Do you notice the possessive word (his) used here!

" My grandson, if you want trouble with the president, touch those three things I have just mentioned," he counselled.

An equally cynical friend recently said that the president wouldn't care to have a corrupt minister who turns public funds into his pocket change or steal that oil in Bunyoro, provided he does not threaten his seat of power. Another added that even if it was discovered that a member of his family was threatening his power, she/he would face the same wrath! So, those around him know their leader's dos and don'ts.

And those who have attempted to stretch the boundary have had a fair share of the visionary's wrath. I am troubled by those who continually preach to us about the need for democracy, especially those from within. Even for the Greeks who are associated with democracy; it didn't start with all the citizens. The election or democracy was for the free men and not the slaves.

In 2016, we will waste billions of shillings confirming a foregone conclusion, that President Museveni will remain president of this republic. I sincerely think we don't need presidential and parliamentary elections for this country. And if we need them, then we need to change the way they organised and conducted.

For instance, those who don't pay tax,  those who don't have property, those who live below the poverty line, should not be allowed to vote. They have no stake for the moment. Unfortunately, they are the majority and you know how the politicians love the ignorant. These categories participate in an election to take a decision on national leaders who they cannot hold to account.

The valve of their vote is reduced to as little as half a kilo of sugar, a piece of soap. I recently saw a television clip of people in Karamoja rejecting pit latrines and still urging their pregnant women not to share latrines with the in-laws.

They just [ease themselves] anywhere. This is Uganda. And you expect such people to have an idea why leaders should be voted for? What is their interest in democracy? Why should someone who pays millions or billions in taxes have the same vote like that person?

President Museveni was recently given a rousing welcome from USA by some mobilised party faithfuls and other hired guns. What was noticeable at the Entebbe mayor's gardens, where this function was held, was that while there was a sizeable number of the young, the elderly were also present.

Remarkably, these elderly people, who were visibly older than Museveni, addressed him as Taata. "Taata kulikayo, era ffe tukyakwagala (welcome back father, we still love you)," they said. The ordinary meaning of the word taata is that of a man in relation to his natural children. Since some of those who called Museveni taata were much older than him, it means the word transcended its ordinary meaning.

It appears these elders looked at the president as the source of livelihood and therefore, it means a lot for them for Museveni to remain in power for purely selfish reasons.  The unemployed youths were too falling over themselves to capture the man's attention. If one asked any of those youths, or even the ministers, to state Uganda's foreign policy or health policy, no one would competently make an attempt.

That is our Uganda today. And we still want elections! Do we need elections to so that we enter world records that we have regular elections to choose our leaders, or do we participate because we think it is a legitimate way of promoting democracy?

There is no value added  by these elections. Democracy is not coming soon. And the earlier we came to grips with this blunt reality, the better for us all. Let President Museveni , the visionary, be.

pmkatunzi@observer.ug 

The author is the finance director of The Observer Media Ltd.

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