THE TROUBLE WITH DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA.

Last Saturday, October 16, I was a guest on Capital Radio’s Capital Gang programme and our debate settled down to the subject of democracy in Africa – specifically on Uganda and Rwanda. Like most debate on anything in Africa, the discussion did not use the facts of a case i.e. the actual dynamics driving a country. Rather, it relied on a set of assumptions drawn from the experience of others which were super-imposed on our reality.

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THE ICC AND PERVERTED JUSTICE IN AFRICA.

Last weekend, we celebrated 48 years of independence. Sadly, many Ugandans (and Africans generally) do not appreciate the political significance of this event largely because of the failures of post independence governments. The resultant frustration has given vent to sections of the international community, largely from the West, to seek to wrestle control of our affairs from African decision makers to international institutions.

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WHEN REALITY STRIKES PREJUDICE.

The common message against President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is that he is a “media predator.” The Ugandan “democracy” crowd claim I cannot host a show like Andrew Mwenda Live in Rwanda. Yet the threat to the show would not be Kagame perceived intolerance. The show would fail if it adopted the Ugandan format because of poor strategic positioning largely due to the fact that Rwanda’s political context is different.

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WHY NRM LOSERS SHOULD JOIN FDC.

An important feature of the recently concluded NRM election primaries was the violence and fraud that characterised the process across almost the entire country. This produced a large number of aggrieved NRM politicians who have declared they want to run as independents. This is intriguing because in spite of the unfairness with which their party treated them, none has sought to join opposition parties.

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MDG'S : LET AFRICA SHAPE HER DESTINY.

Most of this week has been consumed by the debate on the progress poor countries have made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). I have never been an enthusiast of MDGs because I see them as part of the increasing efforts by the international community to disregard the sovereignty of African states. The inevitable outcome of this well intentioned effort is actually to undermine our democratic process.

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RWANDAN AGAIN DISPROVE SCEPTICS

I am currently in Rwanda witnessing their presidential election campaign. The campaign lacks the usual drama of many African general elections: the rallies of opposition candidates are not broken up by the police, their supporters are not beaten by private militias, candidates do not appeal to ethnic sentiments to garner votes and there is no bribery of voters with sugar, soap, salt and alcohol. Candidates address issues like education, health, access to clean water, agriculture, youth affairs, infrastructure and women’s rights.

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SEDITION JUDGEMENT VICTORY FOR ALL.

Last week, the Constitutional Court declared the sedition law unconstitutional. The judgment marked a major and symbolic watershed in Uganda’s democratisation process. For almost a century, the law of sedition has been used by successive regimes in Uganda to stifle free speech. Although introduced by the colonial state to suppress African demands for independence, post independence governments of Uganda have continually retreated to this law to stifle democratic expression in this country.

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