Quest for a third republic

This week the first son Muhoozi Kainerugaba landed in Kitgum with swag in a helicopter only to end up reading from his iPhone, an assembly of incomprehensible words, I am still personally struggling to make sense of, including the translated Acholi version. 

It was beautiful though to see Muhoozi represent both the dream and nightmare of Uganda’s democracy, better put, both the possibilities and limitations of African politics: the dream of an era of politics every Ugandan yearns for, where a presidential aspirant can fly his helicopter to consult voters and fly back to his family without arrest. 

The limitations Muhoozi represents is the dystopian reality of Uganda’s politics: personal rule, political degeneration where “dunces” averse to ideology, policies, programmes confederate and articulate narrow instead of national objectives. 
The minority intelligentsia who insist in these spaces have their contributions stereotyped and labeled as ‘English’, which has succeeded in excluding the country’s intelligentsia from politics. 

From the main Opposition market place, the National Unity Platform, we have also seen it’s leader Bobi Wine favour in his ‘politburo’ persons whose policy and strategy aptitude is wanting, which is partly why the new political outfit has failed to rise to the occasion. The million dollar question thus is, do these two leading post-Museveni contenders have safe pair of hands required to midwife for Uganda a third republic in the event that they succeed Museveni? or do they even understand that the task of our generation is this monumental? 

It is also possible that we are being harsh in our judgment on these two, yet this could actually be a microcosm of a national/state degeneration. Come to think of it, how did we get to this point of bloggers, music promoters, event MCs becoming our leading public intellectuals addressing us on both mainstream and new media on matters of politics and state building. 

The lumpen strategy as opposed to broad consensus that the duo are using is adopted from Ssebagala’s playbook of class dichotomy: mobilising one group against the other, which only leads to a factional and discontented citizenry and state defeating collective purpose projects like state building.

All said, the task of rebuilding Uganda after Museveni is one that shouldn’t be underestimated. It requires skillful craftmanship because the task is building a third republic that is democratic as opposed to narrow constitutional, institutional and electoral reforms that have become the claptrap of Uganda’s politics and rallying cry for civil society and Opposition. Our history as articulated in the Constitution shows a tumultuous state and optimum democracy was envisioned as a durable solution. 

After successfully leading Uganda to independence in 1962, Apollo Milton Obote embarked on the pioneering role of building for Uganda a first republic. Although he tried to create a semblance of a republic, it was soon interrupted by military coups: the reality of most post-colonial states. 

When the first republic officially crumbled in 1971, the military reigned, quislings supported by local warlords and regional powers ascended to the throne, but couldn’t build a state, until President Museveni came and could only build for Uganda a second republic in 1995.

However, without a clear transition roadmap, it is now apparent that Mr Museveni is going with his second republic, and the immediate task for Uganda after Museveni will be to build a third republic: A constitutional democracy to replace the Constitutional liberalism of the second republic, and the former will grease present laws to function well without even reforming them. 

Another urgent task will be dealing with political questions around state-society relations: Buganda Question, Karamoja question, northern question etc. In short renegotiating and reforming the Ugandan state. 

Economically, there is more urgent need for liberative development: having an economic decision being made from Kampala, also implementing an integrated economic and fiscal system that facilitates good governance, economic growth and equity in production, consumption and distribution of goods and services, while integrating modern economic thinking around creating sustainable futures: Digital, circular and green economy. 

On the social front it is worth unemotionally discussing the country’s soul and values honestly seeking counsel from sciences and other specialists.  The third republic needs to be more tolerant to political and social differences. Killing people who are politically and socially different from us should remain in the second republic.

Christopher Okidi is a lawyer and political economist based in Kampala