By Yvonne Mutesi
Five years down the road and we are back at it again—the campaigns, the noise, the different political party primaries (kamyufu), the endless halt in the traffic, the debates and divisions among people, the rise in violence and so much yet to unfold. The just concluded National Resistance Movement ( NRM) party primaries that happened on July 17th are a reflection of what is yet to come.
It is sad to see how the democratic system in our country has been tailored in such a way that it is transactional. I weep for our nation and wonder if ever, we shall ever have an authentic practice of the democracy we were taught about in school.
During our Primary Five class, we were taught the fundamentals of democracy and these include, freedom of speech and fair campaigns—no transactions involved, just people being rallied to listen to the aspiring leaders’ manifestos that are developmental. When it comes to elections, they ought to be free and fair; voters are expected to exercise their rights without fearing harm. When I look back at what we learnt, it hit me that the democracy we were taught in school was more or less ideal.
As a country we have adapted and agreed to be ruled by a system that is built on selfishness and the desire to ascend to power and gain riches. The essence of conducting an election has lost meaning. We can see this in the low voter turn up especially amongst the young people, who make up over 70% of Ugandan population. Reports indicate that the number of the youth voting dropped from 73% in 2016 to 68% in 2021. This statistic is attributed to different factors such as registration mismanagement where over a million of newly eligible youth were reportedly excluded due to tight registration timelines, limited outreach, pre-election repression, protests and security operations, as well as the internet shut down.
So as all this is happening, the question remains, where is the true voice of the people?
Yvonne Mutesi is a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication Student.
