There’s no more civility in Ugandan politics

We live in a polarized world. While polarization is not new, its intensity has certainly touched new proportions. It appears African democracies are hurtling more towards authoritarianism with its leaders running the affairs of government on vengeance. My concern is not about corruption or hypocrisy in Ugandan politics, which is as old as the evolution of human beings, but the scale of incivility in our politics perhaps has not seen its lowest point as we see today. 

In ancient Greece, the famous philosophers Plato and Aristotle were not fond of democracy as they were afraid of demagogues who could manipulate gullible people to buy their nefarious designs. Instead, they emphasized virtue and wisdom. Plato envisioned philosopher king – the modern-day equivalent of statesman – who after long years of training in philosophy, ethics, virtue and other dimensions of human knowledge took charge of the state.

As ensconced in wisdom, and free from human vices of attachment and corruption, they could seldom commit no mistake. Plato’s disciple, Aristotle, called politics ‘a noble profession’. For him, it was a noble duty of the citizens to take part in politics and be involved in community affairs.

Both thought wisdom and virtue should be guiding principles of governance, rather than vote count or popular support – the key element of a democratic government. 

It is not that democratic governance is the worst form of government. Winston Churchill admitted that democratic form of government may not be the best form of government. Certainly, it is better than authoritarian or totalitarian governments. But democratic governance functions best when it is led by enlightened leaders and enlightened citizenry. When a citizen is not educated, he or she can easily be swayed by populist leaders, and that is why the Greek philosophers hated democracy as it could turn majority against minority or evolve into a government where numbers or quantity dominates quality, virtue or wisdom.

At the very worst, as we see today, democratic governments have often turned towards the policy of divide and rule, pitting one community against another in order to win more votes, engaging in religious or tribalistic rhetoric. 

Another major concern that needs to be addressed as “democracies”  degenerate in Africa is undermining of human values and sorry transformation of human beings as machines or means. When politics becomes ‘might is right’ and means supersede ends, and human beings are counted as numbers, it leads to a moral vacuum. German philosopher Immanuel Kant raised this concern and argued that human dignity and moral duty are major ingredients in any humane society and for permanent peace these elements must be cultivated.

When individuals are stripped of their dignity or moral component, when human beings are excluded from the moral world, they could be treated as objects or things which could easily be made subjects of violence and repression. One classic example of this moral exclusion was Nazi rule in Germany before the Second World War. While Nazism as a system of government is long dead and gone, its traces are still found or are reemerging in various parts of the world. 

One of the core elements of democracy is dialogue. This is certainly waning. The principle – I agree to disagree – guides democracy, but it appears it is slowly going away. My way or highway seems to be the modern-day norm of democracy. The use of words in political debates certainly invokes pessimism, despair and feelings of hopelessness. Political leaders lose decency and use all kinds of words in public, whether in parliament or other public forums.

There are instances when politicians openly denigrate people and use vile words against detractors. It seems politics has become the worst theatre, and everybody is naked in this game. Such a scenario makes alive the concerns of the Greek thinkers about the downsides of democracy.

Watching television debates looks like watching melodrama. As most media houses do not hide their love or hate for political parties, the media debates look like harangue, in which debaters come with closed minds. On most social media platforms, you are not one of them if you are on the opposite side or on the government side. There are certainly exceptions to this normal trend, and there are still politicians who follow moral principles, but they are a few. It will not be an exaggeration to call them endangered species. 

One of the major reasons why politics has descended to such lowly chaos is the preference of immediate or short-term gains over long term gains or visions. If as a politician my goal is to win elections by hook or by crook, and I do not care about what people say about strategies I adopt, or it does not matter if I flout moral norms or legal principles as everything is fair if I win the election. This gives rise to the oft quoted statement – everything is fair in politics. This approach to politics is centered on a zero-sum game, which sees politics as a win-loss game.

Politicians do not worry about their long-term legacy. I doubt if we’ll ever have another Nelson Mandela amidst us. During the early years of our independence there were acute differences between political leaders, but none of them used foul language against each other. Without going into the political ideologies of those leaders, it will be sufficient here to argue that these leaders valued civility and dignity of the other. 

Phillip Kimumwe, [email protected]