Uganda should harmonise its forms of peace

On Monday, it was reported by Daily Monitor that the police spokesperson Fred Enanga said National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi has had undisturbed rallies because his team had cooperated with the regional security teams.

Also, recently, a colleague of mine who hails from Darfur, western Sudan, was in the country for a human rights symposium. 

Alfadil Alnor, a Sudanese human rights crusader, observed much of what is going on in Uganda, especially Kampala, through the lens of an outsider. 

And, to him, Uganda is on the march towards the halcyon days of a past when harmony characterised our politics. This past was circa independence, and slightly after. 

“Stability comes first, then peace and justice. Without peace, there can be no justice and without justice there can be no peace,” he said. 

In Uganda, there is security and peace. In a word, there is stability; he believes. 

Naturally, Uganda comes off looking like Arcadia when referenced against the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, a conflict which has inflicted a calamity whence more than 4.8 million persons have been displaced, inside and outside the country.

So, in this vein, I sympathise wholly with Mr Alnor’s view on the primacy of stability. 

Another colleague, the protean musician Chris Bahizi, is a Congolese national. To him, Uganda is flourishing, not floundering. Why? 

Well, he also references his own country where much of the nation is on a hair trigger, thanks to being global Ground Zero, as it were, for ethnic conflict and violent resource competition involving more than 100 ethnic militias, Congolese security forces, United Nation troops, and a hydra of external interests.

However, my late friend Latif Nsubuga, may he rest in eternal peace, used to have little sympathy with these views. 

He agreed with a pre-National Resistance Movement and Democratic Party memorandum of understanding Norbert Mao, who once said President Museveni’s Uganda only stands tall amidst the pygmies of our past and troubled neighbours, such as Congo and Sudan.

In reality, Mr Nsubuga believed, Uganda is experiencing the lull before the storm. 

Indeed, as Ugandans, we stand on a precipice made momentarily pretty by the lipstick on the pig of such realities as Bobi Wine being allowed to traverse the nation unmolested. 

Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the good in Uganda outweighs the bad in the context of security, stability. 

However, we may have security and stability in terms of how government is keeping the forces of insurrection in check. But this is a short term phenomenon, not a medium or long term possibility. 

You see, the security of peace enforcement, which the government excels at, is entirely different from the security of person and property. 

For under the veneer of peace, the Uganda Police Force, on July 22 released a report revealing that the crime rates in the country have increased by 20 percent in the past year.  The report found that the most common types of crime were theft, robbery, and assault. 

To compound this, there is the question of transition. 

In our history, bar independence, there has never been a peaceful transfer of power. This is owing to a monopoly of power by those who were at the helm at various stages of Uganda’s post-independence story. 

True, Messers Alnor, Bahizi and Nsubuga agree on the importance of peace, but disagree on its forms. 

Uganda should seek to harmonise these three viewpoints with a view to a more perfect union, if you will. 

Anything short of this will spell trouble, for you and I.

Mr Phillip Matogo is a professional copywriter  
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