Why youths can choose next president and why they probably will not

Although they have the numbers to determine the poll, apathy and poverty have turned Uganda’s youth voters into political pawns. Hellen Nyana, a youth herself, explains why.

Chris, a 28-year-old father of two is an Economics graduate from Makerere University and a businessman in Kampala. He is an ardent football fan and can often be found in his favourite sports pub dissecting the latest fortunes of Real Madrid or AC Milan.

Chris, however, rarely discusses local politics. As a businessman, he suffers firsthand from the incompetence of government. He often complains about the roads, healthcare and education system and says he is working extra hard to be able to afford to relocate abroad. Yet he rarely discusses the connection between politics and poor services. In fact, Chris has never registered as a voter and will not be in the voting queues on Friday.

Chris’ story is symptomatic of the irony of the role of youths in Uganda’s politics; they are not happy with the way many aspects of the country are run and they have the numbers to do something about it – yet they often do little or nothing.

Figures from the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics show that almost 80 per cent of all Ugandans are aged 30 and below, with about 7.4 million, or 22 per cent, aged between 18 and 29 and therefore eligible to vote. The controversy over the Electoral Commission’s voters’ register, which critics say is heavily bloated, makes it hard to know how many youths are actually registered.

However, just before the voter registration exercise ended last year, figures from the Electoral Commission indicated that only 3,096,376 youth aged between 18 and 29 had registered to vote. Whereas this is almost three time more than the 1,614,726 youth that were registered to vote in the 2006 election, it is still only 41 per cent of the number of eligible youth voters – taken for purposes of this story to be aged 18 to 29.

Apathy and indifference
A random, unscientific straw poll by this reporter among youths revealed that less than half had previously registered to vote. Of those registered, a quarter had not bothered to turn up and vote on Election Day and did not intend to do so this week.

Those who have registered said they strongly feel the need to exercise their civic duty, even when the results go against them. Others said they had registered at the insistence of their parents and had ended up voting for candidates preferred by their parents.

Many more, however, saw no need to register or to turn up and vote, with some claiming they did not have time to queue up on Election Day – despite it being a public holiday.

More than half of the youths interviewed for this report, however, were simply indifferent. “I am not so much into politics and stuff,” 25-year-old Martha said. “I don’t have a voter’s card but I would get one for my own benefit such as to get a passport, an account or even get a job if it’s what is required – just for identification because me and voting? It’s not my kind of thing.”

With the Electoral Commission not doing enough civic education, and partly due to indifference, others, such as Caroline, a 24-year-old mother of one, said the registration exercise just passed them by. “I’m not a registered voter because I don’t know how, where and when one registers,” Caroline told this newspaper. “Besides, I’ve always found it a waste of time since votes are rigged anyways.”

Changing times
It was not always like this. Uganda has a history of active youth politics and several youth leaders who have gone on to play prominent roles in national politics.

When Uganda got independence in 1962, one of the active youth wingers in the Democratic Party was a certain Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. He was 18 and in Senior Two at Ntare School. In 1971, after Idi Amin took power in a coup, 27-year-old Museveni fled into exile and started planning how to take power.

He was not the only quick-starter. Paul Ssemogerere, who led the Democratic Party for 25 years until his retirement in November 2005, was elected to the Uganda Legislative Council between 1961 to 1962. He was 29.

Dr Apolo Milton Obote had long dipped his toe into student politics by the time he returned to Uganda from Kenya, aged 31, to start the wheeler dealing in the Uganda National Congress that would later turn into Uganda Peoples Congress and lead the country to Independence.

Dr Kizza Besigye, who is running against President Museveni for the third time in this election, was 25 when he joined the National Resistance Army guerrilla rebellion against Milton Obote’s government and 29 when he became Minister of State for Internal Affairs.

Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu was 28 when he became chief of military intelligence after the Bush War, before going on to serve as army commander, MP and carve out a role in opposition politics.

Contemporary Ugandan politics has some youthful faces; Norbert Mao, who is running for President, was in his early 20s when he first joined Parliament, and there are a handful of MPs who joined the House around the same age.

However, none has emerged as a genuine youth leader that can garner the youth vote and either use it to win power, or offer it to the candidate that has the most pro-youth policy initiatives.

And boy, are there real issues affecting youths in Uganda! Take unemployment. Although about 400,000 youths graduate from different educational institutions each year, the economy offers only about 25,000 formal jobs. Even if another 100,000 informal jobs were to be created, this still leaves another 275,000 youths on the streets each year.

The erosion of quality in the education system through an emphasis on quantity (enrolment numbers for free primary and secondary education) rather than quality of education has also meant that many of the youths who graduate from Ugandan schools are unskilled, unproductive and unemployable – a recent report from the International Labour Organisation showed that one Kenyan worker has the same level of productivity as six Ugandan workers doing the same job with the same tools.

Apart from the high unemployment rates and poor education system, youths in Uganda also have to deal with poor health care services and one of the highest population growth rates in the world – which makes competition for services and opportunities stiffer with every passing year.

Despite the seriousness of these issues, few youths seem to see the connection with politics – or their individual role in getting involved or informed.

Knowledge gaps
Less than half of the youths interviewed for this story knew their area MPs. John, 25, said: “David Wakikona for my mum’s side. My dad’s side, I don’t know. They are so silent.”

Carol, 24, said: “I think it is Ken Lukyamuzi. Wait! Or is it his daughter?”
Nathan, 25, was more confused: “This Muslim dude who said stuff about going to war with government.”

There are underlying issues that might help explain the apathy and ignorance. Political parties in Uganda were banned from 1986 to 2005 during which time all Ugandans were theoretically expected to belong to the Movement. There has also only been one President since 1986 – the only President today’s youths are familiar with.

The culture of competitive politics, in which different parties and interest groups offer their alternative ideas, is a strange feeling to many youths today – and the opposition parties, after so many years in limbo are also struggling to lay down roots.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the youths interviewed said they identified more with the ruling NRM party. “I support the ruling party because I appreciate its ideology much as I recognise that the party is lacking in terms of implementation,” says 24-year-old Henrietta. “Besides why cut the hand that feeds you?”

Some, however, say they are apolitical or do not indentify with any of the parties (suggesting the need for new youth-oriented parties or messages).

Fred, a 29-year-old human resources manager describes himself as “apolitical” and says he does not support any party because “politics is all so divisive and pretentious”.

Others, like Mary, a 25-year-old auditor, are drifting, lost in the world of adult politics. “I think I qualify as apathetic,” she says, “but the correct word is probably more like frustrated. I think that all our politicians focus too much on casting blame and serving themselves and their own than on pulling together to do what’s best for the country.”

It is a view shared by Daniel, 25, a law student who said he does not identify with any political party because “they do not seem to hold the citizen’s interests at heart but their own”.

While by no means scientific, the interviews suggest a disconnect between the political parties and youthful voters. The youth are considered a “special interest” category, such as women or people with disabilities, and have four MPs, one from each region, to represent their interests.

This mindset, of youth issues being marginal rather than national, and of youths being another constituency, rather that the most-important constituency, is reflected in the views of Ms Jessica Alupo, the state minister for Youth and Children Affairs who says “the youth should be encouraged to take part in the election process by sensitising them on the policy and encouraging their youth MPs to involve them.”

Similarly, Hon Susan Nampijja, the shadow minister in charge of youth affairs says whereas the disinterest in politics by the youth is disturbing, they “should be given more time to be educated and sensitised to vote”.

Bribes and cupcakes
The relegation of youth issues to the margins of the national debate is reflected in the lack of prioritisation and financial allocation.
One of the progressive clauses in the NRM manifesto in 2006 was to give Shs30 billion to Housing Finance Bank (with other shareholders matching the government contribution) to make mortgages more accessible and affordable, and thereby help young people get a foot onto the property ladder. Five years later, there is no evidence of this having happened, and mortgages are all but unaffordable to first- or second-jobbers.

In the aftermath of the September 2009 riots, in which many unemployed youths in the city had been quick to participate, President Museveni announced that some Shs30 billion would be set aside to create jobs for youths. Apart from this figure being significantly less than the size of the problem, there is little evidence of this working either.
Perhaps the biggest sign of where the youth lie in national politics lies in the way the (often) adult candidates reach out to youth voters.

Rather than offer policy suggestions to make young Ugandans competitive in the job market or ensure cheap and easy credit to those who are entrepreneurial, candidates buy them footballs, beer, food and offer some token cash. A rap single by President Museveni was a roaring success among young Ugandans – and evidence, if any was required, about how their votes will literally be had for a song.

Some youths, suddenly aware of the challenges that come with growing up, are slowly being shaken out of their apathy. Krystal, 26, says she did not vote in 2006 but intends to do so this week.

“I plan to vote because I am tired of complaining about the state of affairs and not actually having a say in who’s elected.” These views, unfortunately, are the exception for while the youth have the numbers to determine who governs the country, it is a fact few youths realise and one even fewer youth leaders are willing to organise around.