Our political leaders have been quoted several times in the media, especially when their potentials have been called into question, saying that we have always had the freedom to change every five years in the form of elections. I have always argued that the ritualistic periodic Elections in this country and other like countries have little or no consequence on the country’s direction if the citizens have been deprived of the power to cause change through them. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that majority of Ugandans are not informed enough to bear potential of making the right political choices during elections. Democracy is only one of the many ingredients required in a free society for holistic growth and development. It gives people the right to vote but it does not guarantee freedom or the trust in the people to make the right choice, much less so in a society of the gullible and illiterate.
An old adage goes that, “communities get the leaders they deserve.” Whether you believe this or not depends on your perception of the system through which leaders are chosen. In our case, democracy gives people the right to vote but how they use that right and the outcome is left to freedom. This freedom can only be guaranteed through an independent legal system that is not readily influenced by periodic voting. Elections can only be an agent of freedom if they give people meaningful voting choices and ensures that they have unbiased and undistorted information necessary to make an informed choice that is in their best interest. For instance, a free and fair election is not only about freedom to vote and the knowledge of how to cast a vote but also about a participatory process where voters engage in independent public debate and have sufficient knowledge about the parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself. This engagement must be moderated based on the specific target group characteristics. Only then can we trust that voters will make informed choices.
Unfortunately, this ingredient of civic education is lacking in this country. A population of low intellect is simply incapable of making beneficial long term decisions. People base on all sorts of petty issues like party colours, cash handouts, material possessions et al., all of which do not reflect the capabilities of an individual to lead them in the right direction and represent their interests. The voters we have here are irrational, highly uninformed about political issues especially relating to the economy, and have a strong bias about the few issues on which they are fairly knowledgeable. They are not ‘adequately educated’ to boost their ability to foresee the betterment of their communities and therefore, I argue, are unable to cast a vote to that effect. Simplistic promises such as financial help or jobs have previously been used to lure ordinary voters. Some have exchanged a solid five-year term for as little as a bar of soap and kilogram of sugar.
Politicians have been very consistent in taking advantage of the immediate needs of the poor ordinary voters, their lack of rationality and poor education. Instead of advancing ideology, they compete in cash, material handouts and public relations tactics. They focus their energies on pointing out the faults of their opponents instead of advancing alternative courses of development and economic growth. This is why the opposition political parties have failed to coin and forward an effective message that resonates with the wider populous. Even the elites who understand what has failed with the current government do not see any of the opposition parties as worthy alternatives.
We need to go back to the drawing board. Civic education at the grass roots is most crucial for citizens to understand their role in shaping their destiny and that of their country. The idea of genuine democracy can only be achieved of we can trust first, that people understand where they want to go, and second, that they can make that choice of who to lead them there without being unduly influenced. With the current system, decentralization has not been fully utilized to strengthen good governance, widen democratic participation and to promote democratic accountability right from the local level to the top. After ritualistic and uninformed voting, citizens are unable to monitor their leaders and to demand accountability for the entire length of the electoral term. Low levels of civic education imply limited opportunities to learn about governance processes including the roles of leaders and citizens in a democratic system. Couple that with the limited interaction with leaders who seem too busy caucusing in their parties, and effective political participation becomes impossible on the part of the citizens.
We must empower our civil society to play an effective role in conducting civic education from the local level upwards. Citizens must be empowered and educated on the tenets of democracy, good governance and accountability together with their specific roles in this process and those of their elected leaders. Only then can we expect and trust that election results truly represent the ‘informed will’ of the people. Else, even abolishing rigging will not earn us genuine democracy and the governance we desire to steer us in the right direction.
As we work on this holistic approach systematically, there is no harm in having the recent electoral reforms demanded by the opposition politicians and civil society for starters. They include; a new Independent Electoral commission, a new voters’ register, Keeping Security organs out of elections, No diversion of public funds to finance NRM, Transparent demarcation of electoral areas, Freedom to assemble and organize, Participatory selection of presiding officers, Participatory processing of electoral materials, Integrity of the tally Centre and Honest and transparent adjudication of presidential election disputes. These embody a very good start.
No comments:
Post a Comment