Activists have enough threats to deal with

During one of my sabbaticals from the newsroom, I experienced the streets of activism firsthand. To protect colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders, I will not lay out here the particulars of my work during my sojourn into activism. 

One thing that I have retained from that time is the deep satisfaction that the work we did mattered. Anyone who contributes to upholding the rule of law and justice in this land should be commended. All genuine efforts matter. Emphasis is on the word genuine. Treachery is lethal in activism; lives are at stake. Fortunately, or unfortunately, activism will thrust many of its practitioners into the limelight. Sometimes, that is when bad things start to happen. This is when one may be passed secret inducements to abandon the struggle and if they refuse, then threats will be applied as a means of persuasion.

The elephant in the room is that there are many funding opportunities for people willing to devote their time and attention to activism. Of course, the funding is not just handed out like sugarcane. Most serious funders require robust accounting systems in place before they can deposit those dollars in one’s accounts. Therefore, I find quite redundant those who spend time shouting about accountability on social media. All serious, registered civil society organisations have systems that take care of these questions. 

The sad thing is that those who thrive on throwing accountability jibes are people who should know better about how things work in the civic space or at least we assume they do. True, some of the detractors are truly ignorant and their only offence should be attempting to speak before informing themselves.

Besides, we have made it a habit to assume that it is someone else’s duty first to fight for our rights and that that entity owes us an explanation of the expenditures they make while trying to do so. The reason many of us follow activists with almost stalkerish fascination and entitlement is that many among us lack the stomach to stand and speak out against injustice. Our fear overrides our sense of self-preservation.

Many activists will have faced real threats to their lives, some of which they disclose and some they may not. For many, it is a life lived with one eye looking over one’s shoulder. Activists cannot escape the worry that their family or their very person or both may not be safe from one day to the next. Prospects of arrest, detention and torture are ever existing. Being in the activist space brought me face-to-face with death threats and other types of threats in real time.

In the face of all this, the last thing that activists need are detractors clothed in similar skins launching missiles at them. My very brief stint in activism may have left me permanently paranoid about certain things such as phone communications, receiving vague messages from unknown numbers, being driven around by strange cab drivers and more.

 Now imagine spending your days looking over one’s shoulder, fearing the quality of the food you are served and such, only to find that you have to sleep with one eye open because people you consider comrades-in-arms are likely active in some spaces working to undermine your work and also shred your reputation.

My prediction is that we haven’t seen the last of the in-fighting among activists and there will also be random people throwing stones from a point of ignorance. The take-home here should be that if you don’t have the stomach to stand up for your beliefs, then, by all means, sit down.

Ms Angella Nampewo is a writer and editor.
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