When you talk with people – Ugandans and non-Ugandans – who support the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government led by President Museveni, you are told that Ugandans must be grateful to their leaders because the days of Obote’s and Amin’s dictatorship are over and there is no turning back. They quickly add that Uganda has now become a full-fledged democracy. So what is democracy?
According to the World Book Encyclopedia democracy means rule by the people. It is a form of government that Abraham Lincoln described as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. According to Robert Maynard Hutchins democracy is the only form of government that is founded on the dignity of man, not the dignity of some men, of rich men, of educated men but of all men (and women).
The citizens of a democracy take part in government either directly or indirectly. In a direct democracy people meet in one place and make the laws for their community. That is what happened in ancient Athens. In a large group it is impossible for all people to meet and pass laws. Consequently they periodically choose representatives to represent their interests. This is indirect or representative democracy.
The representatives enter into a contract with the people they represent and that contract includes a requirement that representatives must consult the people they represent to make sure that the decisions they take or the laws they pass safeguard the interests and rights of the constituents. What needs stressing is that the representatives consult the people they represent before they vote on a matter that affects them.
In Uganda, most representatives at local and national levels have used democracy to advance their own interests in the name of democracy. When criticized for some decisions they have taken they argue that they are responding to the demands of the people. Using this line of argument, Uganda has been divided into so many economically unviable districts that some of them are almost completely dependent on donations from the central government with stiff conditions. Uganda has continued to import used items such as clothing that have destroyed local industries because the people want them. Uganda has continued with a failed Universal Primary Education (UPE) and now Universal Secondary Education (USE) because the people want it.
But when you talk with people as I have done in some constituencies they tell you they have not been consulted. In fact when you talk to some leaders that such and such a decision was made without consulting the people concerned you are reminded that the representatives who take these decisions do not have to consult anybody. They were elected to decide on behalf of the people they represent. Let me give one example.
About a year or so ago I received news that my town of Rukungiri in south west Uganda was going to expand and become a municipality. This decision would result, according to what I was told, in people losing ownership of their land, the only asset most peasants have. I talked with some people in the area and discovered they had not been consulted. I then contacted officials in the town and district councils in Rukungiri district and raised some concerns about incorporating some people into the municipality without consulting them. I wanted to know the criteria used in selecting what areas to incorporate into the expanded municipality and what would happen to land ownership as most peasants depend on it for their livelihood.
I was told that that was not my business. The representatives of the people had requested it. I was also told that the town and district were not going to halt development programs because of complaints coming from one individual. I referred the matter to higher officials. One of them acknowledged receipt of my message and promised he would check and get back to me. It is more than a year and I have not heard a word from him. Others simply did not even bother to acknowledge the receipt of my communication.
On Sunday May 16, 2010 I read in the (Uganda) New Vision newspaper an article titled “Rukungiri to become municipality”. The article reads as follows:
“RUKUNGIRI – The district council has passed a resolution to upgrade the town council to a municipal council. Nyakagyeme sub-county councilor Emmy Ngabirano tabled the motion. The municipality will cover the town council, Kagunga sub-county and Kitimba and Kigaga parishes in Nyakagyeme sub-county”.
After reading the article I made contacts wishing to know the criteria used in demarcating the boundaries and why the whole of Kagunga sub-county has been absorbed. No one knew.
The representatives broke the contract with the people when they decided without consulting them on such an important matter as land which is life for most people in Rukungiri.