By Habibu Sseruwagi

 I recently visited a police station to report a case and left crestfallen because of the sectarian nature of the information they demand to collect from their visitors.

One of them is, which tribe do you belong to?

I left scratching my head, up to now asking myself what one tribe has got to do with getting service at a police station. It's sectarianism.

What's Sectarianism?

As explained by Wikipedia, Sectarianism is a political, cultural, or religious conflict between two groups. Prejudice discrimination, exclusion, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo and if one group holds more power within the government.

Often, not all members of these groups are engaged in the conflict. But as tensions rise, political solutions require the participation of more people from either side within the country or polity where the conflict is happening. Common examples of these divisions are denominations of a religion, ethnic identity, class, or region for citizens of a state and factions of a political movement.

While sectarianism is often labelled as 'religious' and/or 'political', the reality of a sectarian situation is usually much more complex. In its most basic form, sectarianism has been defined as, 'the existence, within a locality, of two or more divided and actively competing communal identities, resulting in a strong sense of dualism which unremittingly transcends commonality, and is both culturally and physically manifest.

If not addressed strategically, Uganda sits on a ticking time bomb despite strides made in evolving as a unitary nation. The third point in the NRM Ten Point Programme of 1986 is “Consolidation of National Security and Elimination of All Forms of Sectarianism”. The first and second points are “Democracy” and “Security."

In the revised Ten Point Programme issued at Kololo by President Yoweri Museveni on October 9, 2012, during the golden jubilee independence celebrations, “Eliminating sectarianism” was number 2 after “Fighting ideological disorientation.”

Indeed, President Museveni has continuously been an astute preacher against sectarian sim. In his recent address at the 37th NRM day celebrations in Kakumiro, Museveni reiterated his anti-sectarian gospel.

He said that acquiring positions based on tribe or religion, among others; can easily bring down institutions, adding that NRM has survived the terrain because it’s a broad-based government. “NRM is not a sectarian party. If you believe in sectarianism, you can’t build an army with a sectarian ideology,” he emphasized.

Sectarianism based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender and other forms is the worst form of backwardness that has endangered human existence and kept us back for long.

It led to the holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis, the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and post-genocide mop-ups that have since thousands decimated in DR Congo; mass killings in Sudan, Central African Republic (C.A.R), the Kenyan post-election violence in Kenya (2007/2008) and the unending Somalia problem.

Across the Indian Ocean, Hindus and Muslims are all over each other; in the Middle East, so many Arab sects are against each other and then collectively against the Israelites. In Europe and the Americas, racism refuses to go away and we all remember Apartheid in South Africa and how it is resurfacing wearing different costumes.

NRM was, therefore, correct to prioritise the fight against sectarianism because it is more grave than most people think. Sectarianism threatens to rip Uganda apart. Looking at statements people make these days all over social media and in social gatherings, it is really bad.

If it were not for the Government’s zero tolerance to sectarianism, it would be the “language” everywhere but people hide behind their phones and computers and spew hate on people who have done nothing wrong to them or people whose character they are not acquainted with.

The public should be reminded of NRM’s Ten Point Programme and what it set out to achieve; it has never expired but continues to challenge today’s generation which is good at ignoring wise counsel and lawful sanctions intended to safeguard national unity and social cohesion.

People are quick to think of themselves as being special or attribute any action done to other considerations warranting resorting to tribal or religious identity.

The bush war combatants fought and won victory because they were cohesive and did not think of their natural differences. Today, instead of using our unique attributes to serve society and all, people create artificial differences based on temporary disagreements or pursuits.

How can someone get killed for a small error, if we think of Arnold Ainebyoona who was gunned down by a guard at a shopping mall in Naalya, and then the whole thing becomes a tribal issue? How can Kenneth Akena get shot and die and the whole thing becomes tribal? How does someone get appointed to a position or another gets sacked for incompetence and the issue becomes tribal?

Why should one person do something wrong and the whole society they come from is blamed? That is a sign of deep ideological disorientation which makes people look at small differences instead of thinking big and working together as one bloc of Ugandans.

The Department of National Guidance under the Ministry of ICT should pay significant attention to upgrading the mindset of Ugandans as a collective people.

There is no day Uganda will cease being a republic and revert to being fragmented along ethnic and fiefdom lines. Identity is something to be proud of but it does not address the greater question of human existence which is to overcome challenges together and succeed together.

Poverty, disease, criminality, illiteracy, and climate change, among other daunting challenges of the world, do not care for one’s identity and suffer the hit equally.

There is no single person who has achieved much by discriminating against others or harming them just because of identity differences. They have only held themselves back.

President Museveni always says that he has made his wealth as a cattle herder by selling the milk and beef harvested from his cows to people who are not indigenous to his Nkore region since most of his neighbours and tribesmen have their herds to provide for them.

He sells his products in Kampala and elsewhere- even beyond borders. That is just one prominent case but there are many others everybody should think of. Musicians; Are there any of them whose music is listened to only by their tribesmen and peers; are politicians voted solely by their family or tribesmen or believers in the same faith?

Discriminatory habits and talk are the work of people who have given up on life and wish to project their failings on others by disregarding social and religious decorum and law. They are very dangerous and should be helped fast!

Civic educators should get to the ground and stamp out the evil of sectarianism before it becomes a full-scale scourge and endangers national security.

Manifestations of sectarianism in the Arab Spring Revolutions and its negative effects

Over the last few years, sectarianism has increasingly insinuated itself into conversations about the region’s revolutions. While some have made absolutist claims about the ideology’s supposed rise since the start of the Arab Spring, the real influence of sectarianism has varied between countries.

In some cases, sectarian rhetoric and violence have, indeed, experienced a sharp surge since the revolutions began. In other cases, it has been a wholly exaggerated or fictionalized phenomenon. Whether real or imagined, however, sectarianism in Arab Spring countries was less a religious matter and more a reflection of complex political realities.

Events inside Egypt are a prime example of sectarianism’s political origins. Amid reigning chaos, violence between confessional groups has found a breeding ground in the country. This has included clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians, which have occasionally had fatal consequences.

Violence has also occurred between Islamic sects. In late June 2013, four Egyptian Shiites were killed in a village in Giza, close to Cairo, after weeks of sectarian incitement by Salafist preachers.

While sectarian incidents are still relatively limited in the country, they are increasing in frequency. What has remained consistent, however, is the state’s response. Whether before or since the revolution, government reactions to sectarian violence have eschewed the rule of law.

Instead, extra-legal remedies that effectively sweep these problems under the rug have been used. When acts of sectarian violence occur, government officials rarely make arrests or encourage legal redress.

Instead, they direct aggrieved parties to pursue reconciliation and other forms of informal dispute resolution, which foster impunity. This is the direction we sensationally pray doesn't manifest in Uganda. These approaches are largely a result of political considerations.

For years, the Mubarak regime in Egypt allegedly abetted attacks against Coptic Christians to strengthen its image as a stabilizing force and defender of minority groups. It also perpetuated state practices that ensured sectarianism would continue, like sustaining the country’s neo-millet system and upholding laws that defined Egyptian citizenship in terms of religious membership.

Since Mubarak’s ouster, these policies have remained unchanged. State security forces have also continued to fan the flames of sectarian violence. In some cases, like the November 2011 massacre of Coptic Christians at Cairo’s Maspero television station, state forces have assumed a direct role in fueling armed sectarian conflict.

By failing to address, and in some cases actively supporting, sectarianism in Uganda, seeds of disunity are sown among our people. For a society facing many pressing economic and political challenges, this disunity is a convenient tool, helping to divert public attention from the most important task of all – the battle for freedom and social justice in the country.