A note to Bobi Wine on Uganda's Elections

FRAUDULENT ELECTIONS 

 Hon. Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine is now embroiled in a politics of flagbearer nearly two years to the 2021 general elections. From now onwards, only a few people will engage in constructive work other than posturing around in second-hand over-sized suits as contestants.

Elections in Uganda are actually a discredited enterprise. They conjure up the ugliness of our politics of violence - polarization, hate, torture, masquerade, manipulations, armies and deaths. Many Ugandans would prefer any other options to constituting government than elections and bush wars.

Surprisingly, neither elections nor bush wars have solved Uganda's social or political problems other than accentuating them.  The more elections and bush wars we get into, the more we suffer. Bush wars have destroyed us and made us needy for a liberation messiah.

Elections have gotten for us avaricious lots keen at fleecing public purse to fester like ticks. It is customary that the ordinary Ugandan loses out during these wars and elections. The main beneficiaries are those who mobilize and organize these wars and sham elections.

The explanation for this zero-sum effect is that elections in Uganda have always been about the same people who are also the same problems of Uganda, but claim to offer themselves as solutions. Antithetical.

So, Bobi Wine should forcefully get himself into the ballots like Dr. Besigye since 2001. He (BW) too, may stay there forever!

I have argued that former Ugandan Presidents, including Dr Milton Obote (RIP) never had an exit plan in their political agenda to hand over power. Amin was the most bold of them for declaring himself President for life. Mr. Museveni communicates his intentions for life presidency by shuffling his arrows inside his quiver at every opportune moment. As such, elections have never qualitatively and quantitatively offered fundamental change for Ugandans. Rather, they have compounded it and set us in a cyclical path to war.

One could argue successfully that Museveni's 1980's justification for bush war against the Obote regime are more pronounced now, under his (Museveni's) regime. And, that these conditions justify an urgent call to mobilize for armed insurrection more than in 1980.

However, Ugandans have become weary of senseless wars and violent elections devoid of democracy that often hurts them. Elections, as a function of democratic institutions had the potential to replace, and not feed us into a war path. We would envisage tangible and visible outcomes highlighted by substantive changes in the material living conditions of our people leading to social integration, patriotism and harmony in this country.

That colourful utopia is far from materializing as the good in what constitute democracy in Uganda was stripped off its appeal. Democracy was shredded by selfish interests and elections built on its debris littered with anti-democratic laws and principles. To many of us, the Ugandan version of democracy is a reincarnation of war fought fiercely in mobilizing state legitimacy and the protracted processes that follows in legitimizing fraudulent post-election regimes.  

Violence is the common denominator in this process of forming governments in most African countries. Other societies learn from it and improve, while in Uganda's case, they make the experience worse.

Such an environment is never favourable for foreign or local investments. You could profile the nature of investors and investments in Uganda then compare with investments that obtains in other East African countries that are not at war to realize the differential impact of stealing elections.

Our gloom teach us that once civility departs from any civil process, what follows is commotion, chaos. In the Socratic dialogue a just outcome was deemed pertinent to a just process. You cannot, say, have a legitimate government when that government was constituted fraudulently. The concept of usurpation approximates this - when we grab someone's will or property by way of force, we must turn to hegemonic violence to legitimize such loot. Without shame, "government" cannot be in-congruent with a social contract of a people.

So, what value resides in participating in a Museveni organized election?

End