Govt should see civil society as partners, not opponents

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By Mark Ruhindi

Government is in the process of enacting a new law whose application is likely to become synonymous with the now infamous Public Order Management Act which government introduced under the cover of curing gaps in the Police Act in relation to regulating public gatherings but is now being misapplied to gag opposition political activities.

The Non-Governmental  Organisations Bill,  2015 which seeks to  repeal the  Non-Governmental  Organisations Act  (as Amended in  2006).

Whereas logically, laws should be amended to positively address any gaps apparent in the statute that seeks to be amended, the gap that the proposed Bill seeks to cure is basically to arm the old law with sharper teeth to bite civil society governance activists.

The law will stifle NGO's, activists' right to free speech and expect them to self-censor and refrain from voicing out criticism against government ills and flawed policies, which government terms as "subversive  methods  of  work and  activities". The bill sets stringent registration and operation legal parameters for NGOs complete with requirements for them to declare their sources of income, obtaining permits from local authorities to operate and introduces fines, criminal penalties of between four and eight years in prison for directors among others.

The NGO Board will be able to revoke permits if NGOs contravene their constitutions or the bill, or if “in the opinion of the board it is in the public interest to do so”. The NGOs must also “not engage in any act which is prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda”. Tactically worded with vague language, if the bill becomes law in its current form, government could easily apply it to purge and outlaw participation of Civil Society Organizations in political debate all together just as Police is tactically misapplying the POMA to outlaw any public gatherings deemed as anti-government agenda even when the meetings are lawful.

Naturally in politics, the ultimate motive is to win elections, to take and retain power, that's why the ruling party NRM is still lukewarm about electoral reforms before 2016 and will not budge because that will likely level the ground that is currently tilted in their favour and give the opposition an edge that could determine who assumes power.

Civil society organizations in good governance activism do not work to take power, they work for the bottom of the pyramid population segment usually the poorest of the poor; the illiterate rural farmer, the unemployed graduate who is still waiting to land his first job interview two years later after graduation or the young entrepreneur who just launched a struggling business and that is why if government is committed to its campaign message of transforming our country into a middle income economy, creating wealth for everyone and growing our democracy, it needs to stop looking at civil society as opponents but partners in advancing that agenda. Our democracy cannot thrive later alone survive without civil society participation because not all citizen have the capacity to ask the important questions that activists put before government.

Muzzling civil society political activism through a repressive laws doesn't only work to keep our politics backward but it also means silencing the only voice folks like my poor illiterate Aunt in the village have against a divided cut throat political dispensation where the ultimate goal is to take and retain power.

When politicians go to rural areas to campaign, they will not articulate complicated policy arguments to voters because such a message cannot be understood. It is easy for any politician to take to the podium and promise voters heaven on earth through blanket promises like "I will build schools, hospitals, I will fight corruption etc" but the past clearly shows that is the same blanket campaign message politicians that have been around for decades have been preaching to a naive mostly rural electorate, yet we still have   poor mothers dying in public hospitals because there's a shortage of medicine or doctors are away attending to business in private clinics which such folks cannot afford, We have corruption at its peak with billions swindled through scams orchestrated with the main objective of funding elections for more terms in office.

In the developed world, politics is driven by policy debate. Thanks to their high literacy levels, most voters can smoothly engage politicians on complex intricacies of economic policy. Politicians have to articulate and sell plans they have for their countries on a wide range of issues and most importantly on how they will tackle problems in the economy through facts and figures that will inevitably be put under the microscope by independent analysts and opponents alike.

But how do you campaign to Illiterate rural folk who can't even read, later alone break down the simplest facts and figures on the health of the economy vis-à-vis a candidate's manifesto message. Every vote counts and politicians will always find something positive to point out to a voter in every segment of the voting population as reason why they should be elected and yet every small decision politicians make affects you whether you are a beggar on the street, a rural farmer tilling the land or a wealthy import/export merchant in Kampala and that's why it is important to understand a politician's plan for the country before lining up to vote them into office, more importantly that's why Civil society activists must be allowed to ask the important policy questions for the benefit of the less fortunate members of the electorate. We cannot have our politics driven by emotion and resources rather than merit, competence and ability of the politicians and still expect our democracy to mature.

If you're reading this, it is highly likely that you're able to decipher through government policies and relate them to your current living conditions compared to how things were during the previous election season. Economic principles dictate that if things are going in the right direction, living conditions should be able to improve with time, at least for a bigger part of the population.

When a flawed government policy decision backfires and results into inflation anarchy like the one that reigned after the 2011 polls, As Kampala residents, the resulting pressure on the economy immediately bites us through increased fuel and food prices before anything else and that awakens us, but it is highly unlikely that my illiterate aunt in the village whose livelihood is subsistence agriculture will notice the pressure resulting from the shilling depreciating by 20% against the dollar. She will start to take note when the depreciation enters the 50% mark after the local shop keeper increases the price of salt or bread by 20%, Folks like her will never know why prices of commodities are going up and they will never ask questions, they simply ride the tide and yet as the lowest income earners they're affected the most.

In third world democracies like Uganda, civil society organisations act as a voice for such folks and we cannot seek to stifle and silence them through repressive statutes because when a problem becomes apparent the important questions will need be asked regardless of whether its NRM or the FDC in power.


Twitter:@MarkRuhindi

Email: MarkRuhindi@fdiadvisors.ug