Uganda’s democratic delusions

Many activists in the opposition have an emotional desire to see Museveni leave power. They are convinced that the pathologies of Uganda only reflect Museveni’s personality. Yet Uganda’s experience is rich enough to show how wrong these assumptions are. Most of Museveni’s critics today were his acolytes in the 1990s and believed his tall tales that he would use power to tame power.

Besigye and Bobi Wine, caught deep in the contradictions of power, are replicas of Museveni. Both recognise they need to rally supporters to remove Museveni. But the people who bring the wildest enthusiasm are those who preach a language of hate intolerance and destruction. They are dominant online where they employ the most uncouth methods to bully and intimidate critics. They show no respect for alternative opinions and demonstrate zero tolerance of divergent views. This is the force some elements in Western embassies mistake for liberal democrats.

Ideally Besigye and Bobi Wine can distance themselves from such social groups and start to continually condemn the behavior and conduct of their uncouth supporters. They could make it clear daily that they seek a politics of moderation and tolerance. But they haven’t and cannot. This is not because Besigye and Bobi Wine are bad people. Rather, both know that to take such action would alienate the base. To keep their supporters, they have embraced radical extremism and its sister politics of hate and intolerance.

The defenders of both Besigye and Bobi Wine claim these two men will tame these forces once in power. In fact once in power, the forces of intolerance that today dominate Defiance and People Power will consolidate and drive the forces of moderation from the government and party. This is what has happened to the NRM over years. It is the logic of power that those who seek to strengthen it are those who win in any power struggle.

Museveni was not at the scene directing the way Besigye was manhandled. However, the elements he has mobilised to retain power are those that behave in such cruel and sadistic fashion. Besigye and Bobi Wine are exactly like Museveni or even worse. The devil is not in their personalities but their politics. The people they have mobilised to gain power are those who will act with brute force against opponents. We know this because they are already using similar tactics online – like cyber bullying.

For the last 60 years, Africa has seen many changes of government with little change in governance. All change in the nature of power has been slow and gradual. This is because contrary to popular perceptions individual leaders have very little control over events. Most of what leaders do with power is dictated to them by circumstances. Of course most human beings would want to ignore these structural constraints. But this is because it is easier to point at an individual like Museveni as the source of problems instead of impersonal forces such as “structural circumstances.” Simplification does not change the problem.

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