When elections do not mean democracy

Apr 22, 2005

PERHAPS Winston Churchill had a point when he said universal suffrage is counter-democracy!

Moses Mulondo

PERHAPS Winston Churchill had a point when he said universal suffrage is counter-democracy!

In fact, my anger flares up when modern sycophants start preaching the false gospel that organising elections is the beginning of democracy. Yet the truth is elections are just a means to democracy and once those means are coupled with draconian, barbaric and malignant injustices like rigging, intimidation, and use of state coffers to buy votes, they become a means to legalisation of dictatorship.

Look at the December 1980 elections whose glaring rate of rigging deserves space in the annals of history.
Samuel Karugire, in his book, Roots of Instability in Uganda, portrays that the 1980 Uganda elections were overwhelmingly rigged to deny DP in favour of UPC. Indeed, that is the type of democracy in Africa!

No wonder, shortly after the elections, the country was plunged into a reign of terror, property destroyed, and thousands of people massacred.
With all that, Josef Stalin’s words that those who cast votes decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything, came to pass.

Of course, there are many countries the world over, which hold free and fair elections. Great political scientists concur that democracy is multi-dimensional and should not be defined from one angle.

Democracy must also be defined in the dimension of the people’s general welfare; equal treatment regardless of tribal or political inclination; absence of corruption and freedom of assembly.

Any system of governance that adores the above qualifies to be a democracy and the reverse is dictatorship.
When NRM came to power in 1986, Ugandans were promised this was not a mere charge of guards but a fundemental change.

President Museveni said he was against the chronic disease of Africa leaders who don’t leave power. Today, he seems to hold a different view. Many people have said it is not him but the sycophants surrounding him that are pestering him to come back. If that is true, why did he tell Ugandans recently that he was the only one with a vision?

Those of you who believe in practical democracy, hats off for Mahatma Ghandi of India. Powere never corrupted him. He is highly revered for having walked the walk of his talk. Little wonder that Michael Hart ranked him one of the greatest 100 men in the history of mankind.

A critical look at the difference between what our leaders promise and what they actually do sends chills down the voters’ spines. As Ghandi warned, “Politics without principles is the ultimate cause of violence.”

Whatever good one does, when one doesn’t entertain divergent views, when the gun is used to seek votes, when opposition political rallies are dispersed, when there is no transparency and accountability of the tax payer’s money, then there is neither justice nor democracy.

Look at the nature of parliamentary democracy in Africa where votes of MPs in parliament are bought as commercial commodities. Is it not for this reason Parliament has endorsed open voting to put on pressure on those who ate the kisanja money?

Yet freedom, morality and the human dignity of the individual calls that one does good not because he is forced, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it. Ugandans, the world and even angels in heaven are watching to see what decisions the MPS will make for a country.

For those MPs who act against their conscience, remember Marian Wright Editman’s words: money, power won’t save your soul or buy you sleep.

When former minister and President Museven’s closest ally, Eriya Kategeya, had been sacked, he said he was against the belief that so-and-so is indispensable because any man’s lifespan is shorter than that of a country.

The Bible says wisdom, vision and power come from God. He gives them to whoever asks for them. Those promising doom after Museveni should take heed.

The writer is the interim president of Luweero Triangle Advocacy Forum

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