The decay of our social order and how to cure it

We have just concluded the annual East African Communication Association (EACA) conference in Kigali, Rwanda, discussing the role of media in promoting social justice. So many things emerged as to how our media can be relevant for social justice. That is now what I am writing about today.

As is the case with many conferences, the networking part, when you discuss things not related to the conference, are the most interesting. In one case, we had diner over the politics in our countries. EACA brings together all East African countries, including Ethiopia and Somalia.

Often, people look down on our politics and how Ugandans are a bunch they cannot understand. They wonder how we put up with so much nonsense in our political space. The thing is, when faced with being looked down on, you are bound to defend your own and patriotic instincts show up ready for a fight.

Someone once told me that even if your father is a known thief and you are aware, it hurts too much if someone else throws that in your face. You are bound to defend him, make excuses etc. Maybe our politics and the politicians in it do not make us proud but no country on the table had pride in their politics. It used to be Kenyans having faith in their democracy and wondering what is wrong with Ugandans. For once, even they seem to wonder if they are okay. We are all no longer at ease, when looking at our politics and the performance of our economies. 

After faithfully watching news for weeks, you get the sense that we are all undergoing some sort of decay in our social order. Marianne Williamson, in her book A return to love, speaks of how ‘part of the decay of our social order has come about because we are governed by so many people who are politicians rather than leaders.’ 

According to Williamson, many great politicians are not leaders and many great leaders are not politicians. Recent events in Uganda probably illustrate this point better than any time in our history. So, who can blame our neighbours for looking down not just on our politics but also the rest of us who seem to passively support it? Yet, the more we talked, the more we realised, that this decay of our social order, and the brand of politics that support or strengthen it, is something no country and even region, is now immune from. 

Once we admitted that the table was a safe space to discuss our own frustrations with the unfolding events in our countries and those of African countries dealing with all kinds of social and economic problems that have driven unprecedented number of people into migration, we have to admit that we need prayers.

There was a time some people laughed at the current Kenyan leadership and their attempts to appease God through prayers and hosting of pastors in Kenyan State House every now and then. Faced with economic crisis and the nagging Opposition, they had invited pastor after pastor to State House, trying to pray away their problems and surrendering to God.

Without God they say nothing is impossible. So, we have decided to take God at his word and take it all to God in prayers. We are learning to bring our sins to where it is holiest for the best results. With visits to the heart of the Vatican, our fortunes could turn differently, with blessing after blessing.

Williamson suggests that healing our politics and the social disorder requires surrendering to the Holy Spirit. In that vein, ‘with prayer, we speak to God, and with miracles, He responds.’ If not for the sake of the politicians visiting pastors and the Pope, at least for the poor citizens who go as far as to worship poverty and everything in between.

From the small irritations to the big things that break our hearts from time to time, the incredible and reckless show of power and squandering of our resources that has for the most part made the rest of us numb, we need to create resources for each district leader to visit their men and women of God.

By the end of diner, we were all exhausted and felt that discussing politics in our countries is the surest way to feel depressed and that we needed to talk about more pleasant things. It helps to understand why our audiences insist that they are tired of news, the bad news kind.

Emilly Maractho (PhD) is an academic and a senior lecturer at Uganda Christian University. [email protected]