“New” Lessons for the West, from “Old” Uganda

Uganda has received a lot of stick especially from the West in recent weeks due to its stand on the Gay Issue. There was outrage in Europe and the Americas shortly before and after the President assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Law in front of local and International journalists. News outlets carried it as breaking news; Human Rights Watch denounced it while Western leaders appeared to be competing for space to express their dissent and issue threats. Some threats were actually executed. Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announced publicly that they had cut their aid support to Uganda. The US announced a review of its $400M aid to the Health sector. Having noticed that it would put a lot of lives at risk, create bad publicity and prompt Ugandans to question their motives for the aid in the first place, the US became clever. They utilized their influence as its largest donor and went through the World Bank to do their billing. $90M in additional loan funding for the Uganda Health Systems Strengthening Project was suspended. Ugandans overwhelmingly responded by supporting their government’s decision even more as they went all over social media declaring that ‘we do not need aid.’ The finance minister was quoted last week as well saying the same. By trying to rally Ugandans against the populist action of their government, donor countries achieved the exact opposite.  The west has been in bed with this government for a long time but they still seem to get a few things wrong. So, here are a few ‘new’ lessons to refresh their mind in case they had forgotten.

Uganda is NOT a democracy.

One does not need to ask a Ugandan today whether this country is democratic. You just need to watch the decisions and manoeuvres made by our leaders in any single week of your choice in a year. The evidence is overwhelming. From appointing a serving military officer into cabinet role, and party card holders as Justices, to pushing unconstitutional legislation through parliament and curtailing the freedoms of opposition/ dissenting leaders, using the army to intimidate voters and outright voter bribery, the regime seeks to further impose itself on Ugandans. The people under the impression that we have a democracy here are delusional. Citizens are powerless to cause change through ritualistic and constantly rigged elections against a military regime that increasingly seems to have outlived its very few merits. Very few government policies and decisions can one find to reflect the true will of the people, but instead are construed to certain individuals’ interests. We are just hostages in a regime that cares only about perpetuating their stay in power. Western governments have been complicit in supporting, defending and promoting these manifest illegalities since 1986. Presidents, Ambassadors, Secretaries of State, all cheered on Museveni as one in the “new breed” of leaders and turned a blind eye to the injustices here. The lesson is; you cannot pick and choose which rights to advocate for and which ones to ignore.

We don’t really care much about rights

If you had been attentive in the past few years, you would know that rights are not such a big deal here. The right of free speech and assembly was scrapped last year through the colonial era Public Order Management Law. Just before then, the right to privacy had been removed through the Interception of Communications Law, otherwise known as the Phone tapping Law that was passed in the previous parliament. Journalists and activists get arrested, for expressing dissenting views on air and in print. Newspapers get closed for exposing government secrets.  In fact, some opposition people don’t even have the right to leave their homes on certain days. When we tried to refuse the imposition of these laws on us, the west did not support us. Certainly, they were not as loud as they are about the gays. So Ugandans had to accept the fact that they are on their own. Therefore there was little will to fight for Gay rights here. After all, we all do not fully enjoy our rights at all.

We wrote the constitution, we can change it

The other day, the president was quoted in the media saying, “We wrote the constitution. We can change it.” In other words, if the constitution stands in the way of getting what he wants, it can be amended. Need I say more? What he says is law in this country. That’s why despite all the Anti-corruption laws and agencies we have, no one gets prosecuted if the president does not allow it. He will even go to the extent of paying for defence lawyers and bail money for his suspect ‘friends’ if he hasn't ordered his cadre judges to throw out the case. 

 While we grappled through all this, the West continued to support him. Far reaching military, diplomatic and financial support kept pouring in as if to patronize the ordinary Ugandans. Despite continuous warnings from domestic human rights activists, political commentators and analysts that this regime is a corrupt and militaristic one, Western governments have been willing accomplices in the steady erosion of the rights of Ugandans. And I do not buy the argument that the US ambassador advances, that different circumstances call for different approaches. Rights are not absolute but they certainly are universal and must be advocated for in the same breadth. Indeed, the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act depicts a nation that lacks democracy, and has an entrenched practice of notorious disregard for the protection of fundamental human rights.

Washington and Europe need to learn to look beyond their own selfish interests and posturing and keep people’s ideals and rights as priorities while dealing with their governments. Such is the kind of interaction that builds partnerships that endure and transcend the transitory interests of a particular head of state. But if they continue to put certain rights up for bargain and pretend that others are non-negotiable, the results are what we see in Uganda today. Autocrats like our own will choose to call their bluff and innocent citizens will be left to suffer the brunt of severed partnerships and suspended aid. 

Remembering the importance of ideals doesn’t mean that autocrats should always be ignored or ostracised. One must deal with the world as it is with the understanding that there are going to be limits to the good we can do and the bad that we can prevent. But to maximize the positive influence, the west should never forget that all people around the world share a common desire for freedom and respect for their rights. Therefore there should never be rights that ‘must’ be respected and those on which we are willing to compromise.