Museveni’s illusion of democracy will cause anarchy
By Dr Maria Katongole
8th Nov 2010
I am looking at my beautiful country Uganda from afar and I am continually saddened by what has happened to it over the last 20–30 years. I am more particularly concerned with what is happening now. The future threatens to be an even greater worry.
No government in history has been perfect, and this is true of Uganda. Indeed Uganda has had its fair share of turbulent times in its 48 years since independence. Consequently, no government has lasted for more than eight years; until now.
Therefore, it would be fair to say that the present government’s record should be judged more harshly than the others. The simple reason for that is that it has been in power a lot longer.
Not only did it have plenty of time and money at its disposal, it was also blessed with the people’s goodwill and the goodwill of the international community to give Uganda what it truly deserved. Unfortunately the government took advantage of this goodwill and has not delivered much on its promise; even after 24 years!
Good governance in a country is judged by the standard of living of the ordinary man in that country. The wellbeing of ordinary men and women is derived from that country’s infrastructure, service delivery, standard of education, and health care.
In Uganda today, there is no evidence to show that any of the above has been realized. The road system is far from ideal, the service delivery leaves a lot to be desired, the quality of education is poor, and the healthcare for the majority of the population has not improved and may have instead degenerated.
One might be inclined to say that something has certainly improved, and that is security, particularly in northern Uganda. But one can only talk of security in relation to infrastructure, service delivery etc; otherwise security alone is nullified in the absence of the others.
Indeed, what is definitely true is that the government has entrenched its power and has become secure in its position at the expense of national development. Otherwise with proper peace and security in place, the country should have been at much a higher level of development.
I was born in the mid-fifties and have personally witnessed that since the end of colonialism, the country has generally gone backwards; not forward. Looking at Uganda over the last 10years, poverty has become more prominent and this is obvious from the squalor which has become endemic throughout the country. My question is: Is this by design or accident? Who is to blame?
It has been proven in other pseudo-dictatorial countries that holding people in a constant state of poverty results in containment of the population. Instead of looking beyond their everyday existence and start demanding their rights, people are forever pre-occupied with the need for survival; day in and day out! This is what Ugandans have been reduced to. They have lost that power!
The government on the other hand has sought to retain power over the people by using the army, the police, all arms of government, and through a network of spies and informers. All these agencies in turn, help to extend government control over the people. By removing the power from the people through impoverishment, the government hopes to subdue and subjugate them.
Turning to the forthcoming general election, the pretence is that the people may have an opportunity to change things. The reality is that the government has no intention under any circumstances of allowing that to happen. The most telling evidence of this are the remarks attributed to government functionaries who expound as “fact” that the result of the forthcoming general election is a foregone conclusion; that Museveni will win.
As a result of government control, the opposition parties have been forced to act with blindfolds on and with their hands tied behind their backs. Consequently, their position has become untenable. The opposition is trying to further democracy in an atmosphere where the government appears to be following democratic principles and yet it is actually using it to advance its own interest. It is futile.
Nonetheless, the unavoidable outcome of this so called democratic system which only gives lip service to the true principles of democracy is to give false hope to the people. Making the populace feel that ‘their best hope is maintaining the status quo’; when the truth is that unless they change this position, their lot is never going to improve.
The end result of this illusion is that the people will inevitably take matters into their own hands, in other words, anarchy. This may take months, years, or even decades to happen, but eventually, right will inevitably prevail! END. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
