This opinion is in response to what Andrew Mwenda wrote title: “What the Opposition should read “
I have read many of your articles and I enjoy them because they are both well written and give us information. I have always noticed that you always argue that the opposition is concentrating too much on removing the president and grabbing power rather than offering an alternative. In this article you seem to suggest that the opposition should provide for example opportunities like the ones provided by the ANC in SA like the building of schools. I find this intriguing.
Whenever I argue politics with most of my friends I am left perplexed. First of all my elite friends i.e. lawyers, engineers, etc are not interested in the manifestos of parties but seem to be content with the "better the devil we know attitude". These people will not read manifestos and it is only journalists and political commentators who read these documents among the elite. These people however have little or know swaying power among the voters of Uganda making their impact close to zero. Now let us tackle the peasants. I would be willing to bet a hand and a leg if you would show me a peasant who votes according to an FDC, DP or NRM manifesto. These guys vote according to what they can see and touch. They will vote for a kilo of sugar not promises that FDC will build them a better road or UPE will be improved.
Therefore it is a dream to think that Uganda is at a level where manifestos sway votes, this happens in the developed world and i think many journalists try to copy and paste these democracies to our conditions which is wrong as it leads many of the developing countries along a doomed path.
This brings us to the Kagame question. He seems to be following the Mahatir Mohamed method of a progressive dictatorship. It can work and it can fail.
He just needs to know what he is doing and not be swayed by spoilers both in and outside his country. You are always praising Kagame and well he seems to be doing well but he has to remember the bitterness of the Hutu and it is only with economic development for both groups that Rwanda can stabilise.
The other African leaders seem to forget a progressive dictatorship and concentrate on a retrogressive democracy where they trample all opposition and then accuse them of being forces of no democracy. How can the opposition provide alternatives if they are beaten back at every opportunity, where the Police is used as a force of oppression, etc. The burden that is put on the opposition is just immense. These are people who have come out in the open and some of them lose livelihoods for a cause but they are criticized and imprisoned for their beliefs. Journalists portray them as similar to the regimes which they may be but they should be appreciated for the causes they take on. For me people who change beliefs all the time and change sides at every opportunity are a problem but those who are steadfast should be appreciated.
I will close by saying that governments change and the only thing we should be ready for is how to manage that change. Remember that UPC had massive support when they were in power and now they cannot get 5%. The NRM claims to have massive support and it should be significant that most of their support is in the villages where votes are swayed at every turn or throw of money. Most unpopular governments all over the world seem to have massive support in the villages. I am not saying that the NRM is not popular but they should put this popularity to the test by allowing constant mobilization by all sides. As for the Buganda question in my view there is only one solution and it will be taken by the NRM government and that is the abolishing of the kingdoms, the cake is too small to share.
Donald Kamugisha: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
NB: The views expressed here are those of the author and don’t necessarily reflect those of The Independent Publications.
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written by mbukuuli ya buganda, February 03, 2010
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