Why nation states are key to effective national dialogue

The call for a national dialogue has drawn mixed reactions from people across the country in the recent past. And the key question is, what kind of dialogue does Uganda deserve? Actually, no one asks whether there is need a national dialogue or not.

Uganda today needs much more than an ordinary dialogue. Albert Einstein put it better when he said “the significant problems we face in life cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. We need to free our minds and sour to heights of thought previously thought unsustainable to get ourselves out of the predicament we are in.”
The problems of Uganda today need brain power and not violence and empty rhetoric.

What is paramount in the country today is national consensus on the things that matter most in the administration of our country. Uganda has greatly suffered from a fever, which is amorphous. A fever of inflated rhetoric and not forgetting the bombastic way of communication that postures instead of persuades citizens.
However, we cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting among ourselves. Not until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices, the country will always face challenges.

The essence of freedom is that each of us should be able to share in the shaping our national dignity. What we need is a consensus based on truth and justice. A consensus that is not aimed at victimising, but at understanding the problems bedevilling the country. This is because when your brother wrongs you, you do not get a panga (machete) and cut off his arm because sooner or later, you may need that arm. Instead, you sit down with him, discuss the issues and resolve your differences.
We need to have a new consensus on how to govern ourselves as Ugandans. We need a consensus based on democracy and respect for our diversity.

Our previous attempts at national consensus in 1962, 1980 and 1986 have largely been unsuccessful. They all ended up in treachery and betrayal. However, this is not the time for lamenting over the past mistakes.
We can start a new and better Uganda where everybody is accorded the respect they deserve. We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it. It is important to learn from history, but we must not become perennial prisoners of history.

In the Lancaster House conference of 1962 before Uganda was granted independence, delegates from the traditional 15 nation states of Uganda, which are still displayed at the entrance of Parliament today, sat down and decided upon how best they wanted to be governed after the country attained independence. These nation states were Acholi, Ankole, Buganda, Bugisu, Bukedi, Sebei, Bunyoro, Busoga, Karamoja, Kigezi, Lango, Teso, Tooro, West Nile and Madi. This was was a smart move because people within their own the house ought to know their problems much better than anybody else from outside.

Today, the country needs another national delegates conference with representatives from the mother 15 nation states cited above, to draw a new road map for Uganda. There is need to analyse and ascertain where we made mistakes. We need to work together regardless of our political, tribal, and religious inclinations so as to open a new chapter of peace, unity, and reconciliation. Much of the problems we face today cannot be solved by pointing fingers at one another, but through understanding our differences and finding amicable solutions together.

The weight of our goals is big and the reach to our opportunities is equally the huge.
Let us be bold, set and fulfil our objectives and pursue them to a logical conclusion. We should bury our differences and pursue issues national interest, which can build or tear apart a nation. We should gamble on this critical matter. It is about seeking a new approach where issues to do with national interest are given top priority at the expense of personal or party convictions.

Mr Gukiina is a writer, uuthor and a Law student. [email protected]