Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Authoritarianism in the Uganda Media
PART ONE
Trace History of The Press in Uganda to Justify the View that the Press has been largely authoritarian.
The history of the Press dates back to the early 1900's. It was sparked off by the coming of the early missionaries, catholic and Protestants.
The first missionaries, the church missionary society (CMS) arrived in 1877 headed by Rev.Mackay in the Kings Muteesa's palace in Mengo. Having been advised by stanley in his letter he wrote in the daily telegram the church Missionary society were ready with gifts like mirrors , cloth and many other foreign elements all aimed at capturing the acceptance fo the Kabaka. Kabaka Muteesa's Zest for civilisation encouraged Rev.Mackay a woodworker and engineer to put their foreign skills at the disposal of the Kabaka.
The first huddle of being accepted by the Kabaka of Buganda was accomplished so, the next huddle was making the Kabaka and the people of Buganda accept christian teachings, which were mostly against the African ways of life like polygamy, subordination of women in a family and mostly against prayer and sacrifice to "small gods". It is at this stage that the missionaries saw the need for a Newsletter, to educate the people about Christianity and also coordinate the movements of the missionaries.
The second factor for publishing Newsletters by the church missionary society was the arrival of the catholic white fathers from France in 1879. Therefore a need for many coverts to both the Catholics and Protestants was imperative. It is against this background that the first church missionary society newsletter, Mengo notes was published in 1900. It was written in English for purposes of spreading the protestant faith and the English language.
The struggle for establishment between the Catholics and Protestants saw yet another Newsletter, MUNNO, a catholic printed paper in circulation, it was written purposely to spread Catholicism and also counter the protestant propanda. It was first published in 1911.
The colonial government also had its own ambitions of spreading boundaries past Buganda to reach the rest of Uganda. Therefore an instrument to spread the strategies of the colonial government like; infrastructure development, encouraging cash crop growing and the development of government institutions was needed. In this respect free newspapers were published in a number of languages to serve the purpose of the protectorate goverment in 1939. Some of the papers included Khodeyo , written in Lusoga, Bushesiire written in Runyankole and many other papers written in Iteso, Luganda and Luo.
Closely related was publication of foreign owned planter's News lette;, Uganda Herald in 1912. It was written in English to help the white and Asian business communities. The last and most vocal category of the newspapers published were the black people privately owned Newspapers. The growth of the elite black community especially in Buganda saw the use of the press as an important weapon in agitating for political space and condemning social, political and economic injustices.
Some of the most notable Newspapers were Ssekanolya 1920, Munyoyozi (Explainer) 1922, Nyubba Ebireesse 1923, Mattalis 1924 a sister paper to the Uganda Herald, Gambuuze and Ddobozi lya Buganda, 1928.
All these papers championed the struggle against unjust colonial tendencies like the Luwaro (Forced Labour) Kasanvu ("Seven thousand" compulsory cheap paid labour ), Busuulu (Land rent) and other grievances against Buganda chiefs were boldly addressed. "Evunjjo", which was tax paid to the chiefs after a peasant yielded crops. This tax was customary and therefore generally accepted by the people of the land, but unfortunately with time the chiefs abused the custom tax by sending people who did not pay to prison, taxes that strained the local people with time. In one case,a farmer complained to have borrowed 150 pounds of seed to plant about 150 yards of land, which yielded 100 pouds harvest due to poor weather. All the farmer's yields and efforts were then paid as tax to the chief. This was to pay back the initial 150 seed loan and was left with 50 pounds to pay the next harvest, and yet the farmer still had to borrow from the Chief more seed for the next season. With time these tendencies could not be accepted by the communities, hence revolting against the chiefs.
The activities of private "black" owned News papers amidst antagonism between catholics, protestants, Moslems , traditionalist’s, colonialists and the elite class, which had no political power but ideas, necessitated to check and balance the press in all sectors. Though it is unfortunate that those in power, the protectorate government and the chiefs used their political might to crash freedom of the press by arresting, fining, deporting and confiscating the press machinery of activists. Daudi Basudde editor of Ssekanolya 1920 and Munyonyozi 1922, Mr. J.N. Luyima editor of Gambuuze, J.W.Kiwanuka editor of Uganda posts, 1951 and others like peter Ssali editor of the Uganda Mirror,1951 were all arrested and heftly fined at one point in their career.
Bassudde, editor of Munyonyozi was critical of corruption practiced by chiefs. In one of his editorials Bassudde commented that, it was time the chiefs put a stop to the acquisition of wealth through corrupt ways and also apologised to the public. He was later charged with spreading malicious information about the Buganda treasurer and fined five hundred shillings for this publication.
Another vocal editor J. W. Kiwanuka vehemently criticized the Ministers for the slow progress towards independence from the whites. He further argued that the Ministers' being undeducated denied them professional administrative skills and emphasized the poor administration policies of the Katiikiro Paulo Kavuma. He was arrested and charged for violating the custom of the land, by writting offensive articles against the Katikiro. He paid a fine of one thousand shillings.
The sending of Kabaka in exile 1953 sparked off bitterness from the press especially the pro Buganda Newspapers like Ugand empya, Uganda eyogera which lamented that "Uganda will not be peaceful unless the Kabaka is returned to Uganda". Kiwanuka was arrested again and charged under the emergency laws of Publishing material intended to bring confusion in Uganda;. He was released after paying a fine of one thousand five shillings.
Paulo Muwanga and Damulira Mukiibi editors of the Emamba Esaze aslo faced the colonial authoritarian wrath, when they wrote in the editorial, warning the Ugandans about Britain being the enemy because it was braking down the Traditional hierarchy into nothing but puppets. They were arrested and charged with publishing seditious information about the colonial government.
By the end of the 1940's most of the Black owned Newspapers had closed downed, especially during the Second World War. Black owned newspapers were critical of Ugandans that were forced to fight on behalf of the British. Such papers like Munyonyozi and Gambuuze were banned under the emergency regulations and press censorship and correction ordinance No.13 of 1984.
The Banning of the early papers saw yet new vehement and vocal papers coming back on the scene among which were Uganda express, Uganda star, Uganda mirror and Uganda post edited by Kiwanuka. These papers were more ambitious and addressed issues relating to independence.
The colonialists were determined to stay and hence used the already institutionalized rules and regulations to close down most of the Newspapers.
On January 10, 1954 Kiwanuka was arrested under section 6 of the emergency regulations and press censorship of 1953. On May 31,1954 the colonial regime banned Uganda post, Uganda express and Uganda Eyogera. Peter Ssali of Uganda mirror and Musa of dobozi lya Buganda were arrested on June 14, 1954.
To curtail any further publication of Newspapers by the agitated Ugandans the colonial regime resorted to confiscation of press machinery.
It should be noted that some of the newspapers were already at the verge of closure due to the constant fines that were imposed on them. The papers were left incapacitated to continue in the publication of further articles.
It is against this background that the Uganda press turned out to be largely authoritarian. The growth of an educated black community with out jobs, and any hope of getting jobs had nothing to loose but all to gain in antagonizing the colonialists and the old school. Traditional leaders, who still wanted the stratification of society according to classes of bakopi and Balangira couldn't survive the wrath of the new energized elite class. This tendency among the traditional leaders was pulling the development of the country backward therefore the educated young men opened war on some primitive exploitative tendencies by the chiefs, Ministers and the kabaka.
While this educated class grew, the colonialists and the traditional leaders started using all available means to counter the demands of the new class of Ugandans. Therefore censorship of the press, fines and many other means were employed to see to it that, the elite operated in the boundaries of the governing body.
It should however be noted that, it is the activities of the press that ignited worker's strikes in the past , therefore the colonial regime and the business white community could not afford having a liberal press during such times.
Censorship of the press was therefore pushed into Ugandan's constitution due to the antagonism that had been sown between the warring partying; colonialists, Traditional Leaders and a new and vibrant elite class that was anxiously waiting on taking over from the white men. Some of the political parties that were formed like the Democratic Party, Uganda national congress and later Uganda people’s congress were soaked in religious rivalries.
The two political groups were later nick named (Dinni ya Papa), DP meaning Popes religion. and UPC, United People of Canterbury. Basing on the religious conflicts that were beginning to take root, the incumbent ruling political parties welcomed press censorship as a blessing in the name of staying in power. (DP), stands for Democratic Party while UPC, Uganda People's Congress.
After 1962 Independence, the newspaper and publications ordinance Number 3 of 1961 was amended and enacted in the 1963 constitution. This act included among other subsections, a fine of five thousand shillings for any publication of false information and one year arrest, Newspapers were supposed to be registered hence issued an operating license. Section18 provided for arrest and a fine for any unregistered newspaper. Finally a police officer under section 21(1) was mandated to confiscate and ban a book, magazine News papers which he or she reasonably thought was published in contravention of the News paper and publication ordinance of 1963 act.
The year 1979 was a direct repetition of press suffocation or even worse. It was a period of dictatorship under the rule of Idi Amin Dada. During this period jolly joe Kiwanuka , an editor of various newspapers, James Bwogi a television presenter and jimmy P. a photo journalists were murdered for their strong professional beliefs.
During this time Amin passed a decree against the press in 1972 which provided that " The ministry may, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so by statutory order, prohibit the publication of any Newspapers for a specified period or indefinite period" (Section 21)
This period saw the closure of most Newspapers, for example Munno was banned from 12 August to 31st December 1976. Uganda star closed during this period and Uganda Argus ceased publication after being taken over by the government. Uganda Argus changed name to "Voice of Uganda".
The movement system has been claiming every now and then to be democratic and yet it has not done much in respect to article 29 (1). This article states that every person shall have the right to;
a) Freedom of speech and expression which shall include freedom of the press and other media.
"ironically the same constitution has enacted impediments to the media such as " The press and journalist statute, 1993, the electronic media statute and the ambiguous penal codes laws on sedition sections; 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,41,42,43,44,45 and 50" Such laws which, I will not discuss in detail under these sections contradicts article 29 of the same constitution.
Authoritarianism was by far planted into our democracy by the colonial legacy. It is against this background that most political leaders in Uganda have used this weapon to consolidate themselves in power.
It should also be noted that in a country with poor civic education, Politicians could easily use institutionalized laws to hinder freedom of expression and speech largely due to the ignorance of the people about their rights and responsibilities, and this has been the case in Uganda.
PART TWO
Updates of Authoritarianism in the Media from 2001 To 2012
The passing of the press and journalists Act, access to information Act and Communication Act. (I will discussion the Press and journalist act)
Political discussion and campaign has over the years pushed the government to engage in easing some of its policies on media practices. The Press and Journalist Act was passed in July 1995 with aim of regulating Mass media in Uganda. The act is an instrument to enforce Article 29 (1) of Uganda's Constitution; Every person shall have the right to freedom of Speech and expression which includes freedom of the Press and other Media. In order to meet its mandate a 13 member media committee was established that includes experts, technocrats and bureaucrats. The Act also provides for a National institute of journalists (NIJU) a professional body that was charged with uniting and ensuring professional standards within the media fraternity. However critics of this statute claim it was designed to enshrine the government into power and not given the power it deserves to engage the state and concerned media publics. The 13 member media council is charged with the responsibility of arbitrating disputes between the state and media, complainants against persons of the media and individual or groups of people from the general public. However from the time of its passing in 1995, a number of cases shall be discussed below that have been resolved by the high court in Uganda and other legal institutions rather than the media committee, as such rendering the committee inefficient. Several cases of unprofessional conduct and practices still remain unabated and yet the National Institute of journalism as stipulated in the act is responsible for ensuring professional standards in the media.
While at the policy level efforts are being made to streamline media practices in accordance with international media standards, the same government has used its state apparatus to clamp down descent. This case by case study tells the story;-
I will briefly highlight some of the major media cases that stand to show authoritarian media practices between 2001 to date. While I discuss the cases below, It is important to note the time lag between each case of charging and that of acquittal, I will call it "Time theft, imprisonment". In my view any professional would be incapacitated when charged with cases that drag on for years.
In May 1999 during the second Congo War, (Mr) Onyango Obbo along with counterparts, Wafula Ogutu and David Ouma Balikowa were arrested and charged with sedition in a story they covered showing a photograph of a Naked woman being shaven with a pair of scissors on her genitals by two soldiers, purportdly Ugandan. November 9, the trial of three journalists opened in Kampala's Magistrates court, case was adjourned December 14, after an unknown assailant hitherto never been caught, fired at and wounded the journalist's lawyer James Nangwala, It was further adjourned to January, 25 2000. They were later released from police custody after paying fines. The government argued that the soldiers in the picture could have been Congolese or Zimbabweans who were also in the Congo at the time. One of the witness Kandida Lakony, a woman claiming to have been in the picture was charged for providing false information and sent to prison for one year. She was released in June 2000 and passed away later in the year.
August 11, 2005 KFM Radio, a subsidiary of Monitor Publication was closed down, its equipment confiscated by security agencies on charges of sedition after a debate between Movement Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs Moses Byaruhanga with Andrew Mwenda, who claimed The government of Uganda's security incompetence led to the sudden accidental death of SPLA Leader John Garang. In an interview Andrew Mwenda maintained that the helicopter that was given to Sudanese leader was a junk helicopter, Garang was flagged off at night and Imatong hills where the accident happened was known to be a Lords Resistance Army (LRA) area of operation. The government responded by closing down the media house and summoning the editors to Court, the producer Angelo was sacked. The station reopened on 18th August.
27 April 2008, Andrew Mwenda arrested by an assortment of security agencies that included Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint anti Terrorism Task force (JATT) the Black Mamba that also raided his publication house the Independent Magazine. Andrew Mwenda was on his way to attend Capital Gang a house favorite talk show hosted by Capital FM radio. His equipment that included phones, flash disks and computers were confiscated by the police.
10 September 2009, Security agencies raid and close a household favorite radio station, Central Broadcasting Service (CBS). Its equipment confiscated, staff forced to leave work and the editors arrested. The government later charged the radio station of inciting violence that culminated in the killing of 27 people, in a stand off between Buganda Kingdom in particular the Kabaka of Buganda and Uganda government over land issues and the Kabaka's insistence on visiting his controversial lands in Kayunga district. High Court Judge Vicent Zehurikize ruled against the government's saying that the authority lies with the Media council to penalize media houses hence dropping all charges against Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) on 20th August 2010.
25 May 2001, Security agencies raid and close a vernacular daily "Gwanga” on grounds of publishing libelous information. The Managing editor Alex Lubwama was later arrested and his equipment confiscated.
The above case by case study reaffirms and shows the enshrinement of authoritarianism in the Uganda political structure, I have ignored to quotes authoritarian and what some may describe as reckless and careless utterances by leading politicians against the media not befitting of our times. Though most of the time media houses have ended up winning the cases, the psychological effects, the will to continue in journalism, the financial strain and loss of data is immeasurable.
A number of journalist have over the years either changed profession to Public relations, advertising, Corporate Management, Marketing, Development communication specialists for NGOs or moved countries and write and work outside of Uganda. Of course, it is important to note that a journalist working in the same media house over the years bears a financial strain that is unbearable in comparison to the skills, fame and opportunities outside mainstream journalism; such also remains the fate of journalism in Uganda.
While some journalists have maintained a lethal attack on government, civil society and the army hence playing the watchdog role, notably over the years a number of journalists have yielded to government offices, which is not wrong or professionally inappropriate, however the twist in these cases is the easy fall out and disgrace that is associated with journalists that join government and later end up on either corruption charges or dismissal. Such has been the case with renown and celebrated investigative and economic journalist Teddy Ssezi Chei former editor of Uganda Confidential.
I will lastly discuss the conduct and use of negative media campaign as a political strategy against especially opposition figure heads. While negative media campaigns are an acceptable political campaign and lobbying strategy, its use in Uganda media defiles the odds.
On several occasions political figures have been stripped of all their respect, decency and ridiculed in the media sphere through constant engagement and scuffles with security agencies, some arrests turn into real ugly fights in front of the media. A case in point was political figure Dr.Kizza Besigye who was practically beaten, roughed up like any other taut, thrown underneath a pickup van and driven off to police during his participation in the walk to work campaign. These scenes have been a repeated sight for a number of opposition figures; women have not escaped the wrath. Woman Member of Parliament Nabila Ssempala Nagayi was equally beaten, dragged and almost stripped before the media by police, on one particular occasion. Woman Member of Parliament Kitgum Beatrice Atim Anywa was equally roughed up and dragged before the media by security agencies during her walk to work demonstration. Two demeaning issues arise out of these acts in the mind of the general public. While there is no threatening message written and officially sent out by government to all would be opposition political contestants, the gruesome treatment and physical suffering inflicted upon politicians is enough to send chills to any political candidate planning to oppose the status quo. Secondly the psychological strain on politicians, after engaging in such scuffles is immeasurable; treating political diplomats like common thieves and touts drastically diminishes the politicians' diplomatic appeal. I will further explore this assertion in a paper discussing Presidential campaigns.
You might ask how this relates to authoritarianism in the media? Well, the media in this case, is used as a driving force or enforcer of political ill will, and publicizing of fear. While, a News editor might tip the photographer who took that clear picture of a police man thumping a Presidential candidate, the effect in undermining the politician has far reaching consequences.
I will conclude by saying that, authoritarianism has been rooted in the political structuring of Uganda from independence to date, the penal code still remains, a challenge and a hindrance to a fully fledged free media in the country. Government should be credited for instituting the press and journalist’s statute that is a step towards empowering the media, the challenge remains for government to recognize and respect the policy instrument. As history has taught us, media houses today are shut down and recover not like in the past.
The Media today, enjoys a host of talks, late 1990's and early 2000 saw an increase in the number of talk shows, call in shows etc and later on citizen round table discussions popularly known as "Ebimezza" aired on both radio and Television stations. This was greatly attributed to governments opening up of media space, the high number of investments in radio and television stations and most importantly the influence and contribution of telecommunication companies that used these talk shows to boost revenues and advertisements. Currently FM stations have spread more than any other media channel and still remain one of the strongest political debate and development communication platforms. Over.119 privately owned FM and 22 Television stations and 17 internet providers had been registered in 2003 by the Uganda Communication commission.
It is worthy noting that journalists today are arrested and charged under a particular law, representation by legal officials is guaranteed. In spite of these achievements in opening up of media space, the following criticisms remain; Government security agencies have been used as instruments of oppression against descent and clamping down media houses. While in other countries civil society organs are used in carrying out the processes of closure or summoning of journalists to court, In Uganda heavily armed security agencies are used and sometimes even go to greater lengths of firing ammunition. The procedures of arrests are in themselves inhuman and gruesome not befitting any professional, sometimes the arrests culminate into physical abuse as earlier discussed.
The business of Media, heavily relies on advertising and being on air 24 hours, 7 days a week, as such cannot afford a day or even hours off airwaves, otherwise you loose clients. However once the media houses are closed the massive loss of revenue is not accounted for, and reimbursed by government. In the long run the quality and revenues of media houses have dwindled and in some cases closed down. In the same spirit the journalists that are usually charged, stay on probation for months or even years as such affecting or interfering with the quality of their work. The case by case study above shows the time lag between charges and acquittals. The financial, psychological strain and effects on ones life, friends and family is some times overwhelming. I have not heard of a journalist suing government for such burdens and yet as journalists these are daily realities when arrests are made.
It is also important to mention the unlevelled justice system, once arrested, a journalist is guilty until proven otherwise or innocent and the burden of proof lies with the journalist. These are two difficult legal grounds for media practitioners, especially when it comes to the financial aspect of collecting evidence to prove one's innocence.
It is important to note that when media houses are closed down or 'Raided" as usually called, a number of equipment are confiscated and usually the process involves, breaking or mishandling of expensive and sensitive media gadgets. Some gadgets are destroyed in the process, and usually equipment is lost during the process, once again bearing a dent on the media house's infrastructure. A procedure of closure needs to be instituted that includes a clear check list of equipment confiscated and retained, packaged according to level of sensitivity and signed off by both parties. Or perhaps defined what qualifies for confiscation and what does not.
Colleagues in the legal sector have also argued against the frivolous use of "sedition" and "Treason" as a charge. A number of cases have been filed against media houses and practitioners on these grounds, but are eventually dismissed by the magistrate or high court on failure to prove the sedious/treasonous effect of a particular media output. Therefore legal experts have argued that the definition of sedition and treason remains a point of exploitation by government and needs legal redress. Other criticism remain in access to information act and the challenges practitioners face, I will however limit my self to the press and journalist statute.
I will close this paper by this quote:
"Censorship on social and cultural grounds is absolutely justified, whereas on political grounds, it is simply primitive, obvious and unacceptable in a civilized society" (Robert L. Sterenson, 1988)
Disclaimer:
The Use of "Black" to refer to indigenous black People and "Whites" to refer to foreign colonialists is in context of the time and should not be misunderstood as racist language in any way. The terms are used to define the categorical groups of people at the time. Same goes with other terms such as "Bakopi" referring to slaves.
Reference:
'Adigun, Agbbaje, Freedom of the Press and Party politics in Nigeria.
Karugire, Roots of instability
The Uganda constitution, 1995
Scott, James (1973), The first African Press in East Africa; Protest and nationalism in Uganda in 1920's in " The International journal of African Historical studies" VI,2
Gariyo Zie, “The Press and Democratic struggles in Uganda 1900 - 1962"
search Engines Used:
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www.google.com
Written and Edited By:
Walter Edgar Byaruhanga
Communication/Public Relations Expert
Executive Director
Development Initiatives Africa
United Nations Civil Military Coordinator, from a humanitarian perspective
Commodities, Forex and stock day trader.
+256 (0)75 1836972
+256(0)78 7459373
edgarbyaruhanga@yahoo.com
Trace History of The Press in Uganda to Justify the View that the Press has been largely authoritarian.
The history of the Press dates back to the early 1900's. It was sparked off by the coming of the early missionaries, catholic and Protestants.
The first missionaries, the church missionary society (CMS) arrived in 1877 headed by Rev.Mackay in the Kings Muteesa's palace in Mengo. Having been advised by stanley in his letter he wrote in the daily telegram the church Missionary society were ready with gifts like mirrors , cloth and many other foreign elements all aimed at capturing the acceptance fo the Kabaka. Kabaka Muteesa's Zest for civilisation encouraged Rev.Mackay a woodworker and engineer to put their foreign skills at the disposal of the Kabaka.
The first huddle of being accepted by the Kabaka of Buganda was accomplished so, the next huddle was making the Kabaka and the people of Buganda accept christian teachings, which were mostly against the African ways of life like polygamy, subordination of women in a family and mostly against prayer and sacrifice to "small gods". It is at this stage that the missionaries saw the need for a Newsletter, to educate the people about Christianity and also coordinate the movements of the missionaries.
The second factor for publishing Newsletters by the church missionary society was the arrival of the catholic white fathers from France in 1879. Therefore a need for many coverts to both the Catholics and Protestants was imperative. It is against this background that the first church missionary society newsletter, Mengo notes was published in 1900. It was written in English for purposes of spreading the protestant faith and the English language.
The struggle for establishment between the Catholics and Protestants saw yet another Newsletter, MUNNO, a catholic printed paper in circulation, it was written purposely to spread Catholicism and also counter the protestant propanda. It was first published in 1911.
The colonial government also had its own ambitions of spreading boundaries past Buganda to reach the rest of Uganda. Therefore an instrument to spread the strategies of the colonial government like; infrastructure development, encouraging cash crop growing and the development of government institutions was needed. In this respect free newspapers were published in a number of languages to serve the purpose of the protectorate goverment in 1939. Some of the papers included Khodeyo , written in Lusoga, Bushesiire written in Runyankole and many other papers written in Iteso, Luganda and Luo.
Closely related was publication of foreign owned planter's News lette;, Uganda Herald in 1912. It was written in English to help the white and Asian business communities. The last and most vocal category of the newspapers published were the black people privately owned Newspapers. The growth of the elite black community especially in Buganda saw the use of the press as an important weapon in agitating for political space and condemning social, political and economic injustices.
Some of the most notable Newspapers were Ssekanolya 1920, Munyoyozi (Explainer) 1922, Nyubba Ebireesse 1923, Mattalis 1924 a sister paper to the Uganda Herald, Gambuuze and Ddobozi lya Buganda, 1928.
All these papers championed the struggle against unjust colonial tendencies like the Luwaro (Forced Labour) Kasanvu ("Seven thousand" compulsory cheap paid labour ), Busuulu (Land rent) and other grievances against Buganda chiefs were boldly addressed. "Evunjjo", which was tax paid to the chiefs after a peasant yielded crops. This tax was customary and therefore generally accepted by the people of the land, but unfortunately with time the chiefs abused the custom tax by sending people who did not pay to prison, taxes that strained the local people with time. In one case,a farmer complained to have borrowed 150 pounds of seed to plant about 150 yards of land, which yielded 100 pouds harvest due to poor weather. All the farmer's yields and efforts were then paid as tax to the chief. This was to pay back the initial 150 seed loan and was left with 50 pounds to pay the next harvest, and yet the farmer still had to borrow from the Chief more seed for the next season. With time these tendencies could not be accepted by the communities, hence revolting against the chiefs.
The activities of private "black" owned News papers amidst antagonism between catholics, protestants, Moslems , traditionalist’s, colonialists and the elite class, which had no political power but ideas, necessitated to check and balance the press in all sectors. Though it is unfortunate that those in power, the protectorate government and the chiefs used their political might to crash freedom of the press by arresting, fining, deporting and confiscating the press machinery of activists. Daudi Basudde editor of Ssekanolya 1920 and Munyonyozi 1922, Mr. J.N. Luyima editor of Gambuuze, J.W.Kiwanuka editor of Uganda posts, 1951 and others like peter Ssali editor of the Uganda Mirror,1951 were all arrested and heftly fined at one point in their career.
Bassudde, editor of Munyonyozi was critical of corruption practiced by chiefs. In one of his editorials Bassudde commented that, it was time the chiefs put a stop to the acquisition of wealth through corrupt ways and also apologised to the public. He was later charged with spreading malicious information about the Buganda treasurer and fined five hundred shillings for this publication.
Another vocal editor J. W. Kiwanuka vehemently criticized the Ministers for the slow progress towards independence from the whites. He further argued that the Ministers' being undeducated denied them professional administrative skills and emphasized the poor administration policies of the Katiikiro Paulo Kavuma. He was arrested and charged for violating the custom of the land, by writting offensive articles against the Katikiro. He paid a fine of one thousand shillings.
The sending of Kabaka in exile 1953 sparked off bitterness from the press especially the pro Buganda Newspapers like Ugand empya, Uganda eyogera which lamented that "Uganda will not be peaceful unless the Kabaka is returned to Uganda". Kiwanuka was arrested again and charged under the emergency laws of Publishing material intended to bring confusion in Uganda;. He was released after paying a fine of one thousand five shillings.
Paulo Muwanga and Damulira Mukiibi editors of the Emamba Esaze aslo faced the colonial authoritarian wrath, when they wrote in the editorial, warning the Ugandans about Britain being the enemy because it was braking down the Traditional hierarchy into nothing but puppets. They were arrested and charged with publishing seditious information about the colonial government.
By the end of the 1940's most of the Black owned Newspapers had closed downed, especially during the Second World War. Black owned newspapers were critical of Ugandans that were forced to fight on behalf of the British. Such papers like Munyonyozi and Gambuuze were banned under the emergency regulations and press censorship and correction ordinance No.13 of 1984.
The Banning of the early papers saw yet new vehement and vocal papers coming back on the scene among which were Uganda express, Uganda star, Uganda mirror and Uganda post edited by Kiwanuka. These papers were more ambitious and addressed issues relating to independence.
The colonialists were determined to stay and hence used the already institutionalized rules and regulations to close down most of the Newspapers.
On January 10, 1954 Kiwanuka was arrested under section 6 of the emergency regulations and press censorship of 1953. On May 31,1954 the colonial regime banned Uganda post, Uganda express and Uganda Eyogera. Peter Ssali of Uganda mirror and Musa of dobozi lya Buganda were arrested on June 14, 1954.
To curtail any further publication of Newspapers by the agitated Ugandans the colonial regime resorted to confiscation of press machinery.
It should be noted that some of the newspapers were already at the verge of closure due to the constant fines that were imposed on them. The papers were left incapacitated to continue in the publication of further articles.
It is against this background that the Uganda press turned out to be largely authoritarian. The growth of an educated black community with out jobs, and any hope of getting jobs had nothing to loose but all to gain in antagonizing the colonialists and the old school. Traditional leaders, who still wanted the stratification of society according to classes of bakopi and Balangira couldn't survive the wrath of the new energized elite class. This tendency among the traditional leaders was pulling the development of the country backward therefore the educated young men opened war on some primitive exploitative tendencies by the chiefs, Ministers and the kabaka.
While this educated class grew, the colonialists and the traditional leaders started using all available means to counter the demands of the new class of Ugandans. Therefore censorship of the press, fines and many other means were employed to see to it that, the elite operated in the boundaries of the governing body.
It should however be noted that, it is the activities of the press that ignited worker's strikes in the past , therefore the colonial regime and the business white community could not afford having a liberal press during such times.
Censorship of the press was therefore pushed into Ugandan's constitution due to the antagonism that had been sown between the warring partying; colonialists, Traditional Leaders and a new and vibrant elite class that was anxiously waiting on taking over from the white men. Some of the political parties that were formed like the Democratic Party, Uganda national congress and later Uganda people’s congress were soaked in religious rivalries.
The two political groups were later nick named (Dinni ya Papa), DP meaning Popes religion. and UPC, United People of Canterbury. Basing on the religious conflicts that were beginning to take root, the incumbent ruling political parties welcomed press censorship as a blessing in the name of staying in power. (DP), stands for Democratic Party while UPC, Uganda People's Congress.
After 1962 Independence, the newspaper and publications ordinance Number 3 of 1961 was amended and enacted in the 1963 constitution. This act included among other subsections, a fine of five thousand shillings for any publication of false information and one year arrest, Newspapers were supposed to be registered hence issued an operating license. Section18 provided for arrest and a fine for any unregistered newspaper. Finally a police officer under section 21(1) was mandated to confiscate and ban a book, magazine News papers which he or she reasonably thought was published in contravention of the News paper and publication ordinance of 1963 act.
The year 1979 was a direct repetition of press suffocation or even worse. It was a period of dictatorship under the rule of Idi Amin Dada. During this period jolly joe Kiwanuka , an editor of various newspapers, James Bwogi a television presenter and jimmy P. a photo journalists were murdered for their strong professional beliefs.
During this time Amin passed a decree against the press in 1972 which provided that " The ministry may, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so by statutory order, prohibit the publication of any Newspapers for a specified period or indefinite period" (Section 21)
This period saw the closure of most Newspapers, for example Munno was banned from 12 August to 31st December 1976. Uganda star closed during this period and Uganda Argus ceased publication after being taken over by the government. Uganda Argus changed name to "Voice of Uganda".
The movement system has been claiming every now and then to be democratic and yet it has not done much in respect to article 29 (1). This article states that every person shall have the right to;
a) Freedom of speech and expression which shall include freedom of the press and other media.
"ironically the same constitution has enacted impediments to the media such as " The press and journalist statute, 1993, the electronic media statute and the ambiguous penal codes laws on sedition sections; 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,41,42,43,44,45 and 50" Such laws which, I will not discuss in detail under these sections contradicts article 29 of the same constitution.
Authoritarianism was by far planted into our democracy by the colonial legacy. It is against this background that most political leaders in Uganda have used this weapon to consolidate themselves in power.
It should also be noted that in a country with poor civic education, Politicians could easily use institutionalized laws to hinder freedom of expression and speech largely due to the ignorance of the people about their rights and responsibilities, and this has been the case in Uganda.
PART TWO
Updates of Authoritarianism in the Media from 2001 To 2012
The passing of the press and journalists Act, access to information Act and Communication Act. (I will discussion the Press and journalist act)
Political discussion and campaign has over the years pushed the government to engage in easing some of its policies on media practices. The Press and Journalist Act was passed in July 1995 with aim of regulating Mass media in Uganda. The act is an instrument to enforce Article 29 (1) of Uganda's Constitution; Every person shall have the right to freedom of Speech and expression which includes freedom of the Press and other Media. In order to meet its mandate a 13 member media committee was established that includes experts, technocrats and bureaucrats. The Act also provides for a National institute of journalists (NIJU) a professional body that was charged with uniting and ensuring professional standards within the media fraternity. However critics of this statute claim it was designed to enshrine the government into power and not given the power it deserves to engage the state and concerned media publics. The 13 member media council is charged with the responsibility of arbitrating disputes between the state and media, complainants against persons of the media and individual or groups of people from the general public. However from the time of its passing in 1995, a number of cases shall be discussed below that have been resolved by the high court in Uganda and other legal institutions rather than the media committee, as such rendering the committee inefficient. Several cases of unprofessional conduct and practices still remain unabated and yet the National Institute of journalism as stipulated in the act is responsible for ensuring professional standards in the media.
While at the policy level efforts are being made to streamline media practices in accordance with international media standards, the same government has used its state apparatus to clamp down descent. This case by case study tells the story;-
I will briefly highlight some of the major media cases that stand to show authoritarian media practices between 2001 to date. While I discuss the cases below, It is important to note the time lag between each case of charging and that of acquittal, I will call it "Time theft, imprisonment". In my view any professional would be incapacitated when charged with cases that drag on for years.
In May 1999 during the second Congo War, (Mr) Onyango Obbo along with counterparts, Wafula Ogutu and David Ouma Balikowa were arrested and charged with sedition in a story they covered showing a photograph of a Naked woman being shaven with a pair of scissors on her genitals by two soldiers, purportdly Ugandan. November 9, the trial of three journalists opened in Kampala's Magistrates court, case was adjourned December 14, after an unknown assailant hitherto never been caught, fired at and wounded the journalist's lawyer James Nangwala, It was further adjourned to January, 25 2000. They were later released from police custody after paying fines. The government argued that the soldiers in the picture could have been Congolese or Zimbabweans who were also in the Congo at the time. One of the witness Kandida Lakony, a woman claiming to have been in the picture was charged for providing false information and sent to prison for one year. She was released in June 2000 and passed away later in the year.
August 11, 2005 KFM Radio, a subsidiary of Monitor Publication was closed down, its equipment confiscated by security agencies on charges of sedition after a debate between Movement Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs Moses Byaruhanga with Andrew Mwenda, who claimed The government of Uganda's security incompetence led to the sudden accidental death of SPLA Leader John Garang. In an interview Andrew Mwenda maintained that the helicopter that was given to Sudanese leader was a junk helicopter, Garang was flagged off at night and Imatong hills where the accident happened was known to be a Lords Resistance Army (LRA) area of operation. The government responded by closing down the media house and summoning the editors to Court, the producer Angelo was sacked. The station reopened on 18th August.
27 April 2008, Andrew Mwenda arrested by an assortment of security agencies that included Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint anti Terrorism Task force (JATT) the Black Mamba that also raided his publication house the Independent Magazine. Andrew Mwenda was on his way to attend Capital Gang a house favorite talk show hosted by Capital FM radio. His equipment that included phones, flash disks and computers were confiscated by the police.
10 September 2009, Security agencies raid and close a household favorite radio station, Central Broadcasting Service (CBS). Its equipment confiscated, staff forced to leave work and the editors arrested. The government later charged the radio station of inciting violence that culminated in the killing of 27 people, in a stand off between Buganda Kingdom in particular the Kabaka of Buganda and Uganda government over land issues and the Kabaka's insistence on visiting his controversial lands in Kayunga district. High Court Judge Vicent Zehurikize ruled against the government's saying that the authority lies with the Media council to penalize media houses hence dropping all charges against Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) on 20th August 2010.
25 May 2001, Security agencies raid and close a vernacular daily "Gwanga” on grounds of publishing libelous information. The Managing editor Alex Lubwama was later arrested and his equipment confiscated.
The above case by case study reaffirms and shows the enshrinement of authoritarianism in the Uganda political structure, I have ignored to quotes authoritarian and what some may describe as reckless and careless utterances by leading politicians against the media not befitting of our times. Though most of the time media houses have ended up winning the cases, the psychological effects, the will to continue in journalism, the financial strain and loss of data is immeasurable.
A number of journalist have over the years either changed profession to Public relations, advertising, Corporate Management, Marketing, Development communication specialists for NGOs or moved countries and write and work outside of Uganda. Of course, it is important to note that a journalist working in the same media house over the years bears a financial strain that is unbearable in comparison to the skills, fame and opportunities outside mainstream journalism; such also remains the fate of journalism in Uganda.
While some journalists have maintained a lethal attack on government, civil society and the army hence playing the watchdog role, notably over the years a number of journalists have yielded to government offices, which is not wrong or professionally inappropriate, however the twist in these cases is the easy fall out and disgrace that is associated with journalists that join government and later end up on either corruption charges or dismissal. Such has been the case with renown and celebrated investigative and economic journalist Teddy Ssezi Chei former editor of Uganda Confidential.
I will lastly discuss the conduct and use of negative media campaign as a political strategy against especially opposition figure heads. While negative media campaigns are an acceptable political campaign and lobbying strategy, its use in Uganda media defiles the odds.
On several occasions political figures have been stripped of all their respect, decency and ridiculed in the media sphere through constant engagement and scuffles with security agencies, some arrests turn into real ugly fights in front of the media. A case in point was political figure Dr.Kizza Besigye who was practically beaten, roughed up like any other taut, thrown underneath a pickup van and driven off to police during his participation in the walk to work campaign. These scenes have been a repeated sight for a number of opposition figures; women have not escaped the wrath. Woman Member of Parliament Nabila Ssempala Nagayi was equally beaten, dragged and almost stripped before the media by police, on one particular occasion. Woman Member of Parliament Kitgum Beatrice Atim Anywa was equally roughed up and dragged before the media by security agencies during her walk to work demonstration. Two demeaning issues arise out of these acts in the mind of the general public. While there is no threatening message written and officially sent out by government to all would be opposition political contestants, the gruesome treatment and physical suffering inflicted upon politicians is enough to send chills to any political candidate planning to oppose the status quo. Secondly the psychological strain on politicians, after engaging in such scuffles is immeasurable; treating political diplomats like common thieves and touts drastically diminishes the politicians' diplomatic appeal. I will further explore this assertion in a paper discussing Presidential campaigns.
You might ask how this relates to authoritarianism in the media? Well, the media in this case, is used as a driving force or enforcer of political ill will, and publicizing of fear. While, a News editor might tip the photographer who took that clear picture of a police man thumping a Presidential candidate, the effect in undermining the politician has far reaching consequences.
I will conclude by saying that, authoritarianism has been rooted in the political structuring of Uganda from independence to date, the penal code still remains, a challenge and a hindrance to a fully fledged free media in the country. Government should be credited for instituting the press and journalist’s statute that is a step towards empowering the media, the challenge remains for government to recognize and respect the policy instrument. As history has taught us, media houses today are shut down and recover not like in the past.
The Media today, enjoys a host of talks, late 1990's and early 2000 saw an increase in the number of talk shows, call in shows etc and later on citizen round table discussions popularly known as "Ebimezza" aired on both radio and Television stations. This was greatly attributed to governments opening up of media space, the high number of investments in radio and television stations and most importantly the influence and contribution of telecommunication companies that used these talk shows to boost revenues and advertisements. Currently FM stations have spread more than any other media channel and still remain one of the strongest political debate and development communication platforms. Over.119 privately owned FM and 22 Television stations and 17 internet providers had been registered in 2003 by the Uganda Communication commission.
It is worthy noting that journalists today are arrested and charged under a particular law, representation by legal officials is guaranteed. In spite of these achievements in opening up of media space, the following criticisms remain; Government security agencies have been used as instruments of oppression against descent and clamping down media houses. While in other countries civil society organs are used in carrying out the processes of closure or summoning of journalists to court, In Uganda heavily armed security agencies are used and sometimes even go to greater lengths of firing ammunition. The procedures of arrests are in themselves inhuman and gruesome not befitting any professional, sometimes the arrests culminate into physical abuse as earlier discussed.
The business of Media, heavily relies on advertising and being on air 24 hours, 7 days a week, as such cannot afford a day or even hours off airwaves, otherwise you loose clients. However once the media houses are closed the massive loss of revenue is not accounted for, and reimbursed by government. In the long run the quality and revenues of media houses have dwindled and in some cases closed down. In the same spirit the journalists that are usually charged, stay on probation for months or even years as such affecting or interfering with the quality of their work. The case by case study above shows the time lag between charges and acquittals. The financial, psychological strain and effects on ones life, friends and family is some times overwhelming. I have not heard of a journalist suing government for such burdens and yet as journalists these are daily realities when arrests are made.
It is also important to mention the unlevelled justice system, once arrested, a journalist is guilty until proven otherwise or innocent and the burden of proof lies with the journalist. These are two difficult legal grounds for media practitioners, especially when it comes to the financial aspect of collecting evidence to prove one's innocence.
It is important to note that when media houses are closed down or 'Raided" as usually called, a number of equipment are confiscated and usually the process involves, breaking or mishandling of expensive and sensitive media gadgets. Some gadgets are destroyed in the process, and usually equipment is lost during the process, once again bearing a dent on the media house's infrastructure. A procedure of closure needs to be instituted that includes a clear check list of equipment confiscated and retained, packaged according to level of sensitivity and signed off by both parties. Or perhaps defined what qualifies for confiscation and what does not.
Colleagues in the legal sector have also argued against the frivolous use of "sedition" and "Treason" as a charge. A number of cases have been filed against media houses and practitioners on these grounds, but are eventually dismissed by the magistrate or high court on failure to prove the sedious/treasonous effect of a particular media output. Therefore legal experts have argued that the definition of sedition and treason remains a point of exploitation by government and needs legal redress. Other criticism remain in access to information act and the challenges practitioners face, I will however limit my self to the press and journalist statute.
I will close this paper by this quote:
"Censorship on social and cultural grounds is absolutely justified, whereas on political grounds, it is simply primitive, obvious and unacceptable in a civilized society" (Robert L. Sterenson, 1988)
Disclaimer:
The Use of "Black" to refer to indigenous black People and "Whites" to refer to foreign colonialists is in context of the time and should not be misunderstood as racist language in any way. The terms are used to define the categorical groups of people at the time. Same goes with other terms such as "Bakopi" referring to slaves.
Reference:
'Adigun, Agbbaje, Freedom of the Press and Party politics in Nigeria.
Karugire, Roots of instability
The Uganda constitution, 1995
Scott, James (1973), The first African Press in East Africa; Protest and nationalism in Uganda in 1920's in " The International journal of African Historical studies" VI,2
Gariyo Zie, “The Press and Democratic struggles in Uganda 1900 - 1962"
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Written and Edited By:
Walter Edgar Byaruhanga
Communication/Public Relations Expert
Executive Director
Development Initiatives Africa
United Nations Civil Military Coordinator, from a humanitarian perspective
Commodities, Forex and stock day trader.
+256 (0)75 1836972
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Commentary of Uganda Presidential Election 2001 to 2011, and Change as Campaign Strategy
PART ONE
COMMENTARY ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Campaign Strategies 2001 to Date and “CHANGE” as a Campaign strategy.
(Special attention will be paid to President Yoweri Museveni and Dr.Kizza Besigye)
WHERE DID THE OPPOSITION TO MUSEVENI GO WRONG?
March 12, 2001 People of Uganda went to poll for a Presidential candidate of their choice.
Six Candidates contested for the presidential elections namely (Mr.) Kizza Besigye, Yoweri Museveni, Aggrey Awori, Mayanja Kibirige, Francis Bwengye and Chappa Karuhanga.
Retired Conel Kizza Besigye, was the strongest opponent to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni in 2001, actually the urban elite described the election as to close to call but alas Museveni won the day with such a big margin contrary to analysis made by the urban elite. Therefore some questions remain unanswered; who are the better analysts of the political situation in Uganda? Are they the elite or the populace? Is the Movement system Democratic? What do the people of Uganda want from Politicians? And what are the strong holds of the incumbent leader over his rival opponents? And Finally is CHANGE a workable political strategy.
Whether the Movement systems is democratic?, is an interesting questions the international community has been asking for a long time and only the people of Uganda can answer this question. I think the just concluded elections have answered most of these questions including that of whether the movement is Democratic or not.
It should be noted that for the second time President Museveni has won elections with quite a big margin. In 1996 President Museveni won the election with 76% of the total votes cast leaving peanuts for other candidates to share amongst themselves, Ssemogerere from Democratic Party being in the biggest contender.
In 2001, with quite an organized opposition conglomerate of multi parties, urban disgruntled and representative Nasser Ssebagala and the soon to be declared splinter group of the movement system, led by Iron lady Winnie Byanyima put up quite a challenge, to the movement political system, lowering its scores to 69% of the total votes cast. This was still good enough for the incumbent to show the whole world his popularity amongst Ugandans.
The real celebration for the movement political system is not President Museveni winning the polls but the strength of the Movement type of democracy that has taken route in our country.
Retired Colonel Kizza Besigye has served the bigger purpose of manifesting the democratic practices of the movement system rather than him being an opposition. Him, contesting on individual merit, is a clear manifestation that the election under the Movement system was in line with the constitution, which was promulgated in 1995. Secondly these elections have showed that the population of Uganda has the capacity to elect a politician of their choice based on manifestos and most importantly what one stands for.
Besigye was expected to win the polls because the movement has massive support in our country, but the electorate has politically matured in that, it is no longer about the movement, multipartyism or even ethnicity like it has always been in African cases. The electorate has shown that ones' manifesto, confidence for security in a leader and the political ideals one stands for, plays a very big role in winning the election.
As a democracy, the people of Uganda polled for a candidate of their choice without state intimidation, as claimed by the opposition, and yet, International observers refuted these allegations against the government thus declaring election free and fair. Counting of votes was done in the open, with participation of political representative, police was in charge of arresting malpractices, and not the army as the opposition had propagated during their campaign.
The Electoral commission was impartial, though they have showed a few structural weaknesses like, late deliveries of the polling material and a poor electoral register, which must be addressed. Finally the army, together with police and other security organs were in charge of state security, as it has always been the back born of Uganda's democracy.
One of the opposition's strong arguments was that; Museveni has ruled for a longer time than was expected, therefore, it was time for him to go. This idea won the opposition quite a lot of support from the urban elite, especially those who analyzed our political situation depending on political elitists philosophy, and some of those comparing Ugandan politics to the first and second world countries.
Not to my surprise, this strategy did not sale in rural areas because it represented a new form of guerilla war against President Museveni their son. He has proven more than worth a son to the rural people by providing them with universal primary education (UPE), Health centers, Modern roads, Electricity, Immunization and most of all peace defended by a disciplined army, Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF).
The idea of "Change" as a campaign strategy should be clearly understood in its self. What is Change? According to the concise oxford dictionary Change means. Change1:- Making or becoming different; Substitution of one for another, arrival at fresh phrase etc. Change 2: Take or use another instead of; become different; become new etc. I will also pick some bits and pieces from Management and organisation theory scholars; Lewin's three stage model that was later adapted by Edgar Schein (1964) comprises of the following steps: 1. Unfreezing existing behavior (ie gaining acceptance for change) 2. Changing Behavior (adopting new attitudes) which requires a prolific Change agent. 3. Refreezing new behavior (Reinforce new patterns of thinking). Also refer to Phillp Kotner change theory and its stages.
Based on these definitions the opposition did not clearly define the two distinctive features of the two political alternatives ie the Movement system headed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Opposition groups headed by Dr. Kizza Besigye. The features that were supposed to be changed from what they were to some thing a new were also not clear to the electorate. For resistance, change in what type of democratic type of governance to what? clearly campaigning to show the different features.
Changes in economic initiatives such as investment, taxation, budget allocation, poverty eradication strategies, microeconomic activities from what? To .......???. Change in civil society mobilization, health, education, media and governance organisation from Legislature, Judiciary and executive from what type? To what?.
Change in Military institutionalism from what type ? to ....??.These processes would clearly define the aspect of change and distinctively be understood by the populace. Therefore "Change as a campaign strategy was not really conceptualized and clearly disseminated to the electorate.
However in all the campaigns, I have had the opposition stick to showing improprieties without juxtaposing the improprieties with the alternative for the electorate to understand. Comparative academics such as Sartori have argued that standard and precise definitions of various concepts in politics is problematic, calling it conceptual stretching. Could this have been the problem faced by the opposition in fielding "Change as a campaign strategy? What about the qualities of the change agent?. Can we argue that Dr. Kizza Besigye as the main agent of change lacked the qualities that the electorate were looking for in a Leader?. We shall explore this point.
On the whole this strategy of change backfired at the opposition, because they made Museveni seem like an enemy, which sparked off sentiments from the Museveni supporters, making them adamant to listening to any issues of importance from the opposition. It was more like an anti - opposition immunization dosage the opposition was providing on behalf of President Museveni.
Political philosopher Machiavelli wrote in his book the "The Prince" Men always want change for the sake of it and when it comes, they complain and wish they hadn't changed".
History has shown that the elite is always in need of change from the status quo. Contemporary scholars argue that some of the biggest revolutions like the French revolutions in Europe were all sowed by the elite who rarely participated in the struggle to achieve what they had sowed. Therefore can we say that the urban elite community were the wrong reinforcing agents of change, as such Dr. Kizza Besigye backed on the wrong tree.
It is against this background that Bismark came up with his famous statement, “The Great questions of the day shall not be answered by speeches and resolutions but by Blood and Iron" Bismark realized that the elite waste time in endless dogmatic debates.
Unfortunately the elite have been retired Col. Kizza Besigye's strong hold let alone the fact that they are the minority in our country, around 10% actually vote of whom other candidates have a share of the vote. The opposition further made a mistake by trying to explain the complicated theories of what pure democracy should be in comparison to the movement system in the short period of campaigns. Some of these issues were mind boggling.
The opposition failed to identify and package the issues. As such playing right in the hands of President Museveni because he was able to counter defend and substantiate whatever issue the opposition raised against the government by using simple examples to explain his points and achievements. For example he usually spoke of, the increase in the number of cemented houses as a sign of economic growth, he broke down figures into large numbers such as, we shall give Ug Shs.. 4,000 million instead of 2.5 billion shillings etc. for health etc...or sometimes would joke that this money given to one of you can be used to build a three storied house with hard notes. The calculated use of these figures strategically worked on the minds of the electorate. A strategy that was ignored by opposition in especially building their cases on corruption.
On Women's day 2001 The president sighted the use charcoal stoves as one of the achievement of women under the movement political system, in his manifesto he talked about sanitary pads and many other simple essentials things easy for an ordinary person to understand and identify with. While the opposition spoke of building car industries and many Utopian promises not applicable to our country at the time.
The opposition also focused on becoming the mouth piece for the urban unemployed, disgruntled and uneducated a campaign strategy launched by former Mayor Nasser Ssebagala. It was virtually clear this group backed Dr. Kizza Besigye, they even created a song’ Hajji a tugambye tuwee Besigye obululu" meaning Haji Nasser Ssebagala has asked us to vote for Kizza Besigye'. This song was very popular among the urban areas. Opposition Urban supporters spread like a wild fire blurring the vision of the opposition. After being deceived by this chantery group, Dr. Besigye and his group became complacent that the victory was theirs. But where did they go wrong with this group?
First and foremost the elite group that raised thumbs up high on Dr. Besigye’s decision to contest for presidency strongly criticized his move of allying with former convict Nasser Ntegge Ssebaggala. To some elite it was luck of clear political principles and vision to identify with a former United states of America convict, actually, If I may put it rightly, the urban elite described this group as Bayaye (touts). Therefore Dr.Besigye lost support on grounds of credibility.
The Museveni National Task force did not ignore this opportunity, so they filled the media with propaganda against the chaotic alliance.
Comments made by members of parliament for Rubaga South Ken Lukyamuzi and Haji Nasser Ssebaggala, inciting people to cut foreigners with machetes, confirmed the anarchy in stock from the opposition., the two stood as evidence for chaos from the opposition's side, which was well exploited by President Museveni’s campaign team in the Mass Media.
Meanwhile the opposition tried to maximize propaganda against the army as instigators of violence. President Museveni countered the hullabaloo about the army and instead deployed the army with other security agencies to maintain law and order, which they did quite well. As such President Museveni proved his control over the state security organs castigating the issue of the army being divided.
Regarding the issue of graduated tax, the opposition did more of educating the public about the principles of taxation such as " The expenses incurred in tax collection should be minimal to enable tax collectors accrue revenue' than actually showing how they are going to change it. Like I said earlier on, such complicated technicalities did not move the ordinary people let alone be understood by them, a task that was supposed to be clarified by the opposition in a lengthy campaign strategy.
The President knowing the people he is dealing with, responded by simply promising not to charge over three (Shs. 3000) for the economically handicapped, abolished women taxation and taxation on all people above sixty years of age and this was enough to counter Dr. Kizza Besigye's issues on taxation.
On the whole the opposition had poor campaigns strategies, which were susceptible to manipulation by the President's campaigns team. Even some of the good issues they had were not clearly articulated to fit the ordinary person's level of understanding.
The degree of complacence within Dr. Kizza Besigye's task force also betrayed them. They were deceived by massive turn ups of people on rallies not considering the fact that people in rural areas and small towns are usually idle and redundant due to low economic activities. The rural communities usually used rallies as "time killers", as such could not be used as a direct representations of support one had.
Museveni National task force knew this fact, therefore in each area the president made a rally, a group of people known as Kakuyege (door to door campaigners) were left in these areas to intensively campaign during the nights and day. Their duty was to reinforce the Presidents campaign messages and prevent it from being distorted by opposition groups.
Therefore, in future all those planning to contest for political offices, should watch out for the use of "CHANGE" as a basis for contesting. We have learnt that incumbents can easily manipulate issues raised within this spectrum to serve their purpose.
CHANGE, is a phenomenon brought about by time in any particular aspect. In our case, Ugandans needed some more time to develop a basic level of intellectual and political awareness of state matters to enable them make conscience and rational political judgments upon issues raised by politicians. It is not until this time that elite arguments on issues like corruption, democracy, multipartism that will hold enough water to gain an ordinary person's support. Therefore, the idea of one person bringing about change, without considering the political conscience of the people is ludicrous and an irrational assessment of ones capability.
PART TWO
Brief Assessments of political developments since 2001 to Date. (18th January - February 7, 2012)
President Museveni has gone ahead and won election consistently in 2005 and 2010. I will not have any other political judgments but maintain the above mentioned factors were repeated in the campaign strategies.
The Opposition however had a strong point of corruption in the army and other political sectors in 2005, however were countered by the Presidents ability to introduce education for all incentives and further opened the political space to multiparytism a phenomenon that cultivated political cohesion within the movement system.
2011, was a smooth sail for the Movement system due to the same technical issues however, the case of corruption was strategically countered in President's Museveni's term, the president strategically ensured that corruption cases both small and big covered the media from 2005 to 2010. Some officials were arrested, and a new phenomenon sprung up; endless parliamentary public accounts committees and continuous probing of government officials in the media, some of the cases were strategic movement maneuvers. These efforts were enough to maintain conversation in media and public debate. At least every eligible ordinary, non political elite voter had the opportunity to hear one thing or two, about a public political official that has been implicated in a corruptions scandal or sent to prison. These efforts were enough to rest the electorates’ doubts about the governments' effort in tackling corruption. Corruption is, however on the increase and yet remains the opposition’s strongest "punch" against the incumbent government. A punch they have not yet mastered and developed the tact to deliver.
The case of policing has further grown since 2005 to date; to a point that community oriented policing strategies have been adopted and strong public relations campaigns. The media today refers to Police heads as "Boss". Maybe it is a new title from policing training centers.
The incumbency has further distanced its self from liability to political improprieties and placed the burden on the police. Strategically the opposition has further been out maneuvered by constantly finding itself engaged with police and other security organs. In a way, political activitists are finding a growing gap between them and Movement representatives and especially with the Executive due to the constant interaction with security agencies. A strategy that is being employed by the government.
The incumbency raises its iron and soft hand to the police and warring party depending on the situation. It has therefore remained a catch twenty two for security agencies found in these situations; further strengthen the incumbency's strength over political descent.
In 2011, security organs further streaped most of the presidential candidates of their presidential and diplomatic dignity by practically beating them, dragging them on the ground, throwing them onto the back of police trucks like thieves or touts, some of these scenes are unheard of, in the field of political diplomacy. These scenes were degrading in themselves but further undermined the candidates before the populace. Graphically put, a political candidate who polled over 2 million votes, in that particular incident of being dragged and trumped upon was streaped of his dignity. It practically meant that over 2 million Ugandans that voted for this candidate were also being trumped upon.
Technically the opposition has equally been out maneuver in the use of the forth estate, the Media. The media has constantly been active at reporting improprieties in governance and corruption but this has been stream lined to a particular area of concern, while the Movement has been tactical in raising issues and shining light on improprieties or cases that are a problem now but has planned for, or is in the process of solving, military scientist call this tact psychological operation or "Psycho Ops" (Black and White Ops). The opposition parties have time and again fallen in the same trap of also raising and participating in these discussions, at their own peril. The media heats up these same issues, and finally the incumbency responds to its electorate by resolving the issue at hand and the opposition is once again left playing in the hands of the opposition. Some political analysts have characterized this as "hood winking" the public.
Political Mergers
It is important to note, the drama that ensues amalgamation of political parties, I will avoid the details of this strategy but, I will question the timing of opposition groups political mergers. The mergers in all the political campaigns have come during the time of Political office races. According to my assessment the political disagreements of the mergers has always covered about 50% of the media discussion at the time when the opposition parties should be focusing on their main rival President Yoweri Museveni. The parties have always gone on with one candidate refusing to contest unless given leadership; some popular candidates decide to stand as independents etc... This process usually fills the media and attracts more political discussion than the issues that are finally raised in their Presidential race manifestos. I do therefore find many loopholes that are exploitated by the incumbency in this political strategy. In my opinion these mergers should come earlier before the Presidential campaigns, unless otherwise intended to maintain the status quo.
Military
The Incumbency has further attained political milleage from the Military achievements over the years. The high level of discipline that the army has maintained and distance from politics, The President himself also retired from the army giving him credibility as a civilian leader. The military further pursued the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) that was under the leadership of Kony and restored peace in Northern Uganda, hence giving the incumbency political strength, a one time daunting area for the movement system. Cattle rustling in the Teso and Karamojong region were equally fought by the military and other successful international military ventures in Somalia. These developments have legitimized and increased the professional standard of the military. Therefore before the electorate, the incumbency has got it right with the military. However the opposition is challenged to show the need for change of leadership with such glaring military successes.
Electoral commission
The Electoral Commission has technically developed; it has over the years improved the electoral processes in terms of facilities, professionalism, technology and increased its independence. As such, the one time political mileage for the opposition has over the years narrowed in this sector.
Poverty.
Ravaging poverty and income inequalities by far remains one of the strongest political arguments against the Movement system. I still find the lingual, characterization and packaging of this problem by the opposition still weak, same goes for the messaging of the campaign material used in articulating these issues. Poverty continues to bite on Ugandans and that is a fact.
Use of the Media
Any communication specialist who watched Dr. Kizza Besigye's Television visual campaigns and those of President Yoweri Museveni will tell the difference in quality, positioning, calmness of crowds, airtime and most importantly the exact visibility time of the candidates in their Television campaign trails.
I will highlight some of the media flaws in Dr. Kizza Besigye's use of media, while for instance he went on campaigns trails along with musicians and comedians to converse votes, which was not a bad strategy. Technically this strategy was not well managed, he was usually blurred and always with at least two, three or more people on the campaign platform at any one time, when he was delivering his message. The music artists are very popular in these communities, therefore competed with him for attention hence loosing votes in most of the communities in which he traveled due to public relation errs. The opposition campaign should have found a clear communication strategy around this point.
In this regard therefore, his Image was not strong and outstanding in the minds of the electorate, as such when it came to casting votes some times the people did not clearly know whom to vote for on the ballot paper.
Comparing to President Museveni, he always stood clearly visually visible and eminent on a podium alone. He always stood out of the crowd and never shared his podium with a number of people, as such was clearly visible and appealing to the electorate. It is not a mistake that totalitarian systems have their leaders curved in stone and metals and stand tall in almost all corners of their countries, this strengthens their presence. This strategy gave President Museveni an edge in the media along with other factors. I can not ignore the role of the "Hut" which was a symbol that created a strong identity for the president.
President Museveni has developed the skin for adapting with time; the 2010 booming music industry did not leave him behind. While Ugandans had enough of his Ranches and Milk discussions. He introduced himself as an artist, which I must say, he has always been especially in regard to his art of public speaking. He launched his own Urban music Song, a traditional folk tale packaged to the taste of today’s music sound beat. Once again out maneuvering the oppositions' use of Music artist along the campaign trail. On the whole, his use of the media was a masterpiece that the opposition took for granted.
Passive campaign messages used by Dr. Kizza Besigye. He stood at a podium in the Busoga region and Shouted out... (Muwunya Obwaavu, mujjudde envuzza, muli baavu), .....etc meaning (You are stinking poverty, you are full of jiggers, you are poor...) and then went on to deliver his political message... Such messages in the long run were associatated with him and were easily washed away by President Museveni's promises of "honey" ; In the next budget we shall construct Your main road, We shall build more health centers, We shall provide free secondary Education etc. In a way the opposition and the Movement were playing a sort of "Good Corp, Bad corp" with the electorate. Besigye on his campaign trail would paint a bleak picture and President Museveni would come and paint an opposite optimistic picture. Logically, Who would be more appealing? and what message would stick most? That is a question for you to answer. Would you vote a person who has just told you about your woes and troubles OR Vote for a candidate that has promised to create a better future for you? Unless the strategy was designed to maintain the status quo.
If I were to graphically demonstrate this scenario for a young man or woman who has only witnessed one type of political system, The concept of "changing" a type of governance would be like changing a girl into a boy or vice versa, such was the task for the opposition to prove to the electorate.
President Museveni gained points, by continuously highlighting successes in the strength of the economy, Increased education, health facilities, increased modern road networks, Small and medium enterprises initiatives such as SACCO (Government funded financial clusters groups), North Uganda Social action fund (NUSAF) increased numbers of modern housing facilities and opened markets with our neighbors through a number regional co operations, Increased use of telecommunication facilities such as MTN, WARID, AIRTEL, ORANGE etc... Radio and Television stations and a number of print media and Internet facilities.
Finally in 2010 the Incumbency delivered a blow of more "honey" to the populace that the opposition continues to struggle with;- The new promise of "Oil", that was discovered in the albertain region. Movement party political strategists campaigned in the media and small town discussion and explored all possible ways through which the ordinary person will benefit from this newly found black Gold. The promise of a new wealth ahead was enough to send the electorate into hibernation or "sleep" and rest all the desires for change, as such countering almost all arguments of poverty raised by the opposition.
Finally has CHANGE worked, it has worked worldwide and will continue to work, in the latest years we have seen what has been dubbed the "Arab Spring" changes in leadership through revolutions, in Arab countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Yemen, etc.. Political leaders have been changed and policies required to meet the needs of people in today's time have been changed in countries such Saudi Arabia, Syria. The factors that have led to these changes are beyond the scope of this paper however change has taken place and methods have equally varied depending on the countries.
American President, Barack Obama Democratic party representative was ushered into Presidency on the ticket of change. Equally the same social, economic and political elitism of Americans is incomparable to Uganda; however these are historical political presidencies/grounds for CHANGE as a political campaign platform. Political change agents should study these cases for them to put up a credible political fight.
This paper sums up my analysis and update. This paper was written as an academic paper in 2001 for the department of Mass communication.
PART THREE
Update (February 7)
In the Event of writing this paper President Museveni delivered a report to the parliament of Uganda in a special secession about the state of Oil exploration.
In a spirited statement he said: I now feel that the Movement has the right ammunition to take over Kampala, sending a huge applause from Parliamentarians. "This is how I feel now"
The Movement has regained the initiative due to having the development pillars in place. We have an educated society, We have energy, We have the right security apparatus and now Oil , he said. This parliamentary secession was televised on Uganda Broadcasting Channel. (UBC).
2011 Pole Result Declared
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been declared winner of the just concluded Presidential elections that took place Friday 18th February 2011. The electoral commission chairman engineer Badru Kiggundu made the announcement on Sunday 20th February 2011. The poll results are as follows;-
1. President Yoweri Museveni (NRM) won by 68.38%. getting 5,428,369 votes out of 8,272,760 total votes.
2. Dr. Kizza Besigye (IPC) second in with 26% getting 2, 064, 963 votes.
3. Mr. Norbert Maot Democratic Party’s Norbert Mao is in third position having polled 147, 708 votes.
4. Mr. Olara Otunnu (Uganda People's Congress (UPC)
5.Ms. Betty Olive Kamya ( Uganda Federal alliance)
6.Mr. Abed Bwankia People’s Development Party
7.Mr. Jaberi Bidandi Ssali People’s Progressive Party
8.Mr. Samuel Walter Lubega Independent candidate.
Written and Edited By:
Byaruhanga Edgar Walter
Communication/Public Relations Expert
Executive Director
Development Initiatives Africa
United Nations Civil Military Coordinator, from a humanitarian perspective
Commodities, Forex and stock trader.
+256 (0) 75 1836972
+256 (0) 78 7459373
edgarbyaruhanga@yahoo.com
edgarbyaruhanga@gmail.com
COMMENTARY ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Campaign Strategies 2001 to Date and “CHANGE” as a Campaign strategy.
(Special attention will be paid to President Yoweri Museveni and Dr.Kizza Besigye)
WHERE DID THE OPPOSITION TO MUSEVENI GO WRONG?
March 12, 2001 People of Uganda went to poll for a Presidential candidate of their choice.
Six Candidates contested for the presidential elections namely (Mr.) Kizza Besigye, Yoweri Museveni, Aggrey Awori, Mayanja Kibirige, Francis Bwengye and Chappa Karuhanga.
Retired Conel Kizza Besigye, was the strongest opponent to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni in 2001, actually the urban elite described the election as to close to call but alas Museveni won the day with such a big margin contrary to analysis made by the urban elite. Therefore some questions remain unanswered; who are the better analysts of the political situation in Uganda? Are they the elite or the populace? Is the Movement system Democratic? What do the people of Uganda want from Politicians? And what are the strong holds of the incumbent leader over his rival opponents? And Finally is CHANGE a workable political strategy.
Whether the Movement systems is democratic?, is an interesting questions the international community has been asking for a long time and only the people of Uganda can answer this question. I think the just concluded elections have answered most of these questions including that of whether the movement is Democratic or not.
It should be noted that for the second time President Museveni has won elections with quite a big margin. In 1996 President Museveni won the election with 76% of the total votes cast leaving peanuts for other candidates to share amongst themselves, Ssemogerere from Democratic Party being in the biggest contender.
In 2001, with quite an organized opposition conglomerate of multi parties, urban disgruntled and representative Nasser Ssebagala and the soon to be declared splinter group of the movement system, led by Iron lady Winnie Byanyima put up quite a challenge, to the movement political system, lowering its scores to 69% of the total votes cast. This was still good enough for the incumbent to show the whole world his popularity amongst Ugandans.
The real celebration for the movement political system is not President Museveni winning the polls but the strength of the Movement type of democracy that has taken route in our country.
Retired Colonel Kizza Besigye has served the bigger purpose of manifesting the democratic practices of the movement system rather than him being an opposition. Him, contesting on individual merit, is a clear manifestation that the election under the Movement system was in line with the constitution, which was promulgated in 1995. Secondly these elections have showed that the population of Uganda has the capacity to elect a politician of their choice based on manifestos and most importantly what one stands for.
Besigye was expected to win the polls because the movement has massive support in our country, but the electorate has politically matured in that, it is no longer about the movement, multipartyism or even ethnicity like it has always been in African cases. The electorate has shown that ones' manifesto, confidence for security in a leader and the political ideals one stands for, plays a very big role in winning the election.
As a democracy, the people of Uganda polled for a candidate of their choice without state intimidation, as claimed by the opposition, and yet, International observers refuted these allegations against the government thus declaring election free and fair. Counting of votes was done in the open, with participation of political representative, police was in charge of arresting malpractices, and not the army as the opposition had propagated during their campaign.
The Electoral commission was impartial, though they have showed a few structural weaknesses like, late deliveries of the polling material and a poor electoral register, which must be addressed. Finally the army, together with police and other security organs were in charge of state security, as it has always been the back born of Uganda's democracy.
One of the opposition's strong arguments was that; Museveni has ruled for a longer time than was expected, therefore, it was time for him to go. This idea won the opposition quite a lot of support from the urban elite, especially those who analyzed our political situation depending on political elitists philosophy, and some of those comparing Ugandan politics to the first and second world countries.
Not to my surprise, this strategy did not sale in rural areas because it represented a new form of guerilla war against President Museveni their son. He has proven more than worth a son to the rural people by providing them with universal primary education (UPE), Health centers, Modern roads, Electricity, Immunization and most of all peace defended by a disciplined army, Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF).
The idea of "Change" as a campaign strategy should be clearly understood in its self. What is Change? According to the concise oxford dictionary Change means. Change1:- Making or becoming different; Substitution of one for another, arrival at fresh phrase etc. Change 2: Take or use another instead of; become different; become new etc. I will also pick some bits and pieces from Management and organisation theory scholars; Lewin's three stage model that was later adapted by Edgar Schein (1964) comprises of the following steps: 1. Unfreezing existing behavior (ie gaining acceptance for change) 2. Changing Behavior (adopting new attitudes) which requires a prolific Change agent. 3. Refreezing new behavior (Reinforce new patterns of thinking). Also refer to Phillp Kotner change theory and its stages.
Based on these definitions the opposition did not clearly define the two distinctive features of the two political alternatives ie the Movement system headed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Opposition groups headed by Dr. Kizza Besigye. The features that were supposed to be changed from what they were to some thing a new were also not clear to the electorate. For resistance, change in what type of democratic type of governance to what? clearly campaigning to show the different features.
Changes in economic initiatives such as investment, taxation, budget allocation, poverty eradication strategies, microeconomic activities from what? To .......???. Change in civil society mobilization, health, education, media and governance organisation from Legislature, Judiciary and executive from what type? To what?.
Change in Military institutionalism from what type ? to ....??.These processes would clearly define the aspect of change and distinctively be understood by the populace. Therefore "Change as a campaign strategy was not really conceptualized and clearly disseminated to the electorate.
However in all the campaigns, I have had the opposition stick to showing improprieties without juxtaposing the improprieties with the alternative for the electorate to understand. Comparative academics such as Sartori have argued that standard and precise definitions of various concepts in politics is problematic, calling it conceptual stretching. Could this have been the problem faced by the opposition in fielding "Change as a campaign strategy? What about the qualities of the change agent?. Can we argue that Dr. Kizza Besigye as the main agent of change lacked the qualities that the electorate were looking for in a Leader?. We shall explore this point.
On the whole this strategy of change backfired at the opposition, because they made Museveni seem like an enemy, which sparked off sentiments from the Museveni supporters, making them adamant to listening to any issues of importance from the opposition. It was more like an anti - opposition immunization dosage the opposition was providing on behalf of President Museveni.
Political philosopher Machiavelli wrote in his book the "The Prince" Men always want change for the sake of it and when it comes, they complain and wish they hadn't changed".
History has shown that the elite is always in need of change from the status quo. Contemporary scholars argue that some of the biggest revolutions like the French revolutions in Europe were all sowed by the elite who rarely participated in the struggle to achieve what they had sowed. Therefore can we say that the urban elite community were the wrong reinforcing agents of change, as such Dr. Kizza Besigye backed on the wrong tree.
It is against this background that Bismark came up with his famous statement, “The Great questions of the day shall not be answered by speeches and resolutions but by Blood and Iron" Bismark realized that the elite waste time in endless dogmatic debates.
Unfortunately the elite have been retired Col. Kizza Besigye's strong hold let alone the fact that they are the minority in our country, around 10% actually vote of whom other candidates have a share of the vote. The opposition further made a mistake by trying to explain the complicated theories of what pure democracy should be in comparison to the movement system in the short period of campaigns. Some of these issues were mind boggling.
The opposition failed to identify and package the issues. As such playing right in the hands of President Museveni because he was able to counter defend and substantiate whatever issue the opposition raised against the government by using simple examples to explain his points and achievements. For example he usually spoke of, the increase in the number of cemented houses as a sign of economic growth, he broke down figures into large numbers such as, we shall give Ug Shs.. 4,000 million instead of 2.5 billion shillings etc. for health etc...or sometimes would joke that this money given to one of you can be used to build a three storied house with hard notes. The calculated use of these figures strategically worked on the minds of the electorate. A strategy that was ignored by opposition in especially building their cases on corruption.
On Women's day 2001 The president sighted the use charcoal stoves as one of the achievement of women under the movement political system, in his manifesto he talked about sanitary pads and many other simple essentials things easy for an ordinary person to understand and identify with. While the opposition spoke of building car industries and many Utopian promises not applicable to our country at the time.
The opposition also focused on becoming the mouth piece for the urban unemployed, disgruntled and uneducated a campaign strategy launched by former Mayor Nasser Ssebagala. It was virtually clear this group backed Dr. Kizza Besigye, they even created a song’ Hajji a tugambye tuwee Besigye obululu" meaning Haji Nasser Ssebagala has asked us to vote for Kizza Besigye'. This song was very popular among the urban areas. Opposition Urban supporters spread like a wild fire blurring the vision of the opposition. After being deceived by this chantery group, Dr. Besigye and his group became complacent that the victory was theirs. But where did they go wrong with this group?
First and foremost the elite group that raised thumbs up high on Dr. Besigye’s decision to contest for presidency strongly criticized his move of allying with former convict Nasser Ntegge Ssebaggala. To some elite it was luck of clear political principles and vision to identify with a former United states of America convict, actually, If I may put it rightly, the urban elite described this group as Bayaye (touts). Therefore Dr.Besigye lost support on grounds of credibility.
The Museveni National Task force did not ignore this opportunity, so they filled the media with propaganda against the chaotic alliance.
Comments made by members of parliament for Rubaga South Ken Lukyamuzi and Haji Nasser Ssebaggala, inciting people to cut foreigners with machetes, confirmed the anarchy in stock from the opposition., the two stood as evidence for chaos from the opposition's side, which was well exploited by President Museveni’s campaign team in the Mass Media.
Meanwhile the opposition tried to maximize propaganda against the army as instigators of violence. President Museveni countered the hullabaloo about the army and instead deployed the army with other security agencies to maintain law and order, which they did quite well. As such President Museveni proved his control over the state security organs castigating the issue of the army being divided.
Regarding the issue of graduated tax, the opposition did more of educating the public about the principles of taxation such as " The expenses incurred in tax collection should be minimal to enable tax collectors accrue revenue' than actually showing how they are going to change it. Like I said earlier on, such complicated technicalities did not move the ordinary people let alone be understood by them, a task that was supposed to be clarified by the opposition in a lengthy campaign strategy.
The President knowing the people he is dealing with, responded by simply promising not to charge over three (Shs. 3000) for the economically handicapped, abolished women taxation and taxation on all people above sixty years of age and this was enough to counter Dr. Kizza Besigye's issues on taxation.
On the whole the opposition had poor campaigns strategies, which were susceptible to manipulation by the President's campaigns team. Even some of the good issues they had were not clearly articulated to fit the ordinary person's level of understanding.
The degree of complacence within Dr. Kizza Besigye's task force also betrayed them. They were deceived by massive turn ups of people on rallies not considering the fact that people in rural areas and small towns are usually idle and redundant due to low economic activities. The rural communities usually used rallies as "time killers", as such could not be used as a direct representations of support one had.
Museveni National task force knew this fact, therefore in each area the president made a rally, a group of people known as Kakuyege (door to door campaigners) were left in these areas to intensively campaign during the nights and day. Their duty was to reinforce the Presidents campaign messages and prevent it from being distorted by opposition groups.
Therefore, in future all those planning to contest for political offices, should watch out for the use of "CHANGE" as a basis for contesting. We have learnt that incumbents can easily manipulate issues raised within this spectrum to serve their purpose.
CHANGE, is a phenomenon brought about by time in any particular aspect. In our case, Ugandans needed some more time to develop a basic level of intellectual and political awareness of state matters to enable them make conscience and rational political judgments upon issues raised by politicians. It is not until this time that elite arguments on issues like corruption, democracy, multipartism that will hold enough water to gain an ordinary person's support. Therefore, the idea of one person bringing about change, without considering the political conscience of the people is ludicrous and an irrational assessment of ones capability.
PART TWO
Brief Assessments of political developments since 2001 to Date. (18th January - February 7, 2012)
President Museveni has gone ahead and won election consistently in 2005 and 2010. I will not have any other political judgments but maintain the above mentioned factors were repeated in the campaign strategies.
The Opposition however had a strong point of corruption in the army and other political sectors in 2005, however were countered by the Presidents ability to introduce education for all incentives and further opened the political space to multiparytism a phenomenon that cultivated political cohesion within the movement system.
2011, was a smooth sail for the Movement system due to the same technical issues however, the case of corruption was strategically countered in President's Museveni's term, the president strategically ensured that corruption cases both small and big covered the media from 2005 to 2010. Some officials were arrested, and a new phenomenon sprung up; endless parliamentary public accounts committees and continuous probing of government officials in the media, some of the cases were strategic movement maneuvers. These efforts were enough to maintain conversation in media and public debate. At least every eligible ordinary, non political elite voter had the opportunity to hear one thing or two, about a public political official that has been implicated in a corruptions scandal or sent to prison. These efforts were enough to rest the electorates’ doubts about the governments' effort in tackling corruption. Corruption is, however on the increase and yet remains the opposition’s strongest "punch" against the incumbent government. A punch they have not yet mastered and developed the tact to deliver.
The case of policing has further grown since 2005 to date; to a point that community oriented policing strategies have been adopted and strong public relations campaigns. The media today refers to Police heads as "Boss". Maybe it is a new title from policing training centers.
The incumbency has further distanced its self from liability to political improprieties and placed the burden on the police. Strategically the opposition has further been out maneuvered by constantly finding itself engaged with police and other security organs. In a way, political activitists are finding a growing gap between them and Movement representatives and especially with the Executive due to the constant interaction with security agencies. A strategy that is being employed by the government.
The incumbency raises its iron and soft hand to the police and warring party depending on the situation. It has therefore remained a catch twenty two for security agencies found in these situations; further strengthen the incumbency's strength over political descent.
In 2011, security organs further streaped most of the presidential candidates of their presidential and diplomatic dignity by practically beating them, dragging them on the ground, throwing them onto the back of police trucks like thieves or touts, some of these scenes are unheard of, in the field of political diplomacy. These scenes were degrading in themselves but further undermined the candidates before the populace. Graphically put, a political candidate who polled over 2 million votes, in that particular incident of being dragged and trumped upon was streaped of his dignity. It practically meant that over 2 million Ugandans that voted for this candidate were also being trumped upon.
Technically the opposition has equally been out maneuver in the use of the forth estate, the Media. The media has constantly been active at reporting improprieties in governance and corruption but this has been stream lined to a particular area of concern, while the Movement has been tactical in raising issues and shining light on improprieties or cases that are a problem now but has planned for, or is in the process of solving, military scientist call this tact psychological operation or "Psycho Ops" (Black and White Ops). The opposition parties have time and again fallen in the same trap of also raising and participating in these discussions, at their own peril. The media heats up these same issues, and finally the incumbency responds to its electorate by resolving the issue at hand and the opposition is once again left playing in the hands of the opposition. Some political analysts have characterized this as "hood winking" the public.
Political Mergers
It is important to note, the drama that ensues amalgamation of political parties, I will avoid the details of this strategy but, I will question the timing of opposition groups political mergers. The mergers in all the political campaigns have come during the time of Political office races. According to my assessment the political disagreements of the mergers has always covered about 50% of the media discussion at the time when the opposition parties should be focusing on their main rival President Yoweri Museveni. The parties have always gone on with one candidate refusing to contest unless given leadership; some popular candidates decide to stand as independents etc... This process usually fills the media and attracts more political discussion than the issues that are finally raised in their Presidential race manifestos. I do therefore find many loopholes that are exploitated by the incumbency in this political strategy. In my opinion these mergers should come earlier before the Presidential campaigns, unless otherwise intended to maintain the status quo.
Military
The Incumbency has further attained political milleage from the Military achievements over the years. The high level of discipline that the army has maintained and distance from politics, The President himself also retired from the army giving him credibility as a civilian leader. The military further pursued the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) that was under the leadership of Kony and restored peace in Northern Uganda, hence giving the incumbency political strength, a one time daunting area for the movement system. Cattle rustling in the Teso and Karamojong region were equally fought by the military and other successful international military ventures in Somalia. These developments have legitimized and increased the professional standard of the military. Therefore before the electorate, the incumbency has got it right with the military. However the opposition is challenged to show the need for change of leadership with such glaring military successes.
Electoral commission
The Electoral Commission has technically developed; it has over the years improved the electoral processes in terms of facilities, professionalism, technology and increased its independence. As such, the one time political mileage for the opposition has over the years narrowed in this sector.
Poverty.
Ravaging poverty and income inequalities by far remains one of the strongest political arguments against the Movement system. I still find the lingual, characterization and packaging of this problem by the opposition still weak, same goes for the messaging of the campaign material used in articulating these issues. Poverty continues to bite on Ugandans and that is a fact.
Use of the Media
Any communication specialist who watched Dr. Kizza Besigye's Television visual campaigns and those of President Yoweri Museveni will tell the difference in quality, positioning, calmness of crowds, airtime and most importantly the exact visibility time of the candidates in their Television campaign trails.
I will highlight some of the media flaws in Dr. Kizza Besigye's use of media, while for instance he went on campaigns trails along with musicians and comedians to converse votes, which was not a bad strategy. Technically this strategy was not well managed, he was usually blurred and always with at least two, three or more people on the campaign platform at any one time, when he was delivering his message. The music artists are very popular in these communities, therefore competed with him for attention hence loosing votes in most of the communities in which he traveled due to public relation errs. The opposition campaign should have found a clear communication strategy around this point.
In this regard therefore, his Image was not strong and outstanding in the minds of the electorate, as such when it came to casting votes some times the people did not clearly know whom to vote for on the ballot paper.
Comparing to President Museveni, he always stood clearly visually visible and eminent on a podium alone. He always stood out of the crowd and never shared his podium with a number of people, as such was clearly visible and appealing to the electorate. It is not a mistake that totalitarian systems have their leaders curved in stone and metals and stand tall in almost all corners of their countries, this strengthens their presence. This strategy gave President Museveni an edge in the media along with other factors. I can not ignore the role of the "Hut" which was a symbol that created a strong identity for the president.
President Museveni has developed the skin for adapting with time; the 2010 booming music industry did not leave him behind. While Ugandans had enough of his Ranches and Milk discussions. He introduced himself as an artist, which I must say, he has always been especially in regard to his art of public speaking. He launched his own Urban music Song, a traditional folk tale packaged to the taste of today’s music sound beat. Once again out maneuvering the oppositions' use of Music artist along the campaign trail. On the whole, his use of the media was a masterpiece that the opposition took for granted.
Passive campaign messages used by Dr. Kizza Besigye. He stood at a podium in the Busoga region and Shouted out... (Muwunya Obwaavu, mujjudde envuzza, muli baavu), .....etc meaning (You are stinking poverty, you are full of jiggers, you are poor...) and then went on to deliver his political message... Such messages in the long run were associatated with him and were easily washed away by President Museveni's promises of "honey" ; In the next budget we shall construct Your main road, We shall build more health centers, We shall provide free secondary Education etc. In a way the opposition and the Movement were playing a sort of "Good Corp, Bad corp" with the electorate. Besigye on his campaign trail would paint a bleak picture and President Museveni would come and paint an opposite optimistic picture. Logically, Who would be more appealing? and what message would stick most? That is a question for you to answer. Would you vote a person who has just told you about your woes and troubles OR Vote for a candidate that has promised to create a better future for you? Unless the strategy was designed to maintain the status quo.
If I were to graphically demonstrate this scenario for a young man or woman who has only witnessed one type of political system, The concept of "changing" a type of governance would be like changing a girl into a boy or vice versa, such was the task for the opposition to prove to the electorate.
President Museveni gained points, by continuously highlighting successes in the strength of the economy, Increased education, health facilities, increased modern road networks, Small and medium enterprises initiatives such as SACCO (Government funded financial clusters groups), North Uganda Social action fund (NUSAF) increased numbers of modern housing facilities and opened markets with our neighbors through a number regional co operations, Increased use of telecommunication facilities such as MTN, WARID, AIRTEL, ORANGE etc... Radio and Television stations and a number of print media and Internet facilities.
Finally in 2010 the Incumbency delivered a blow of more "honey" to the populace that the opposition continues to struggle with;- The new promise of "Oil", that was discovered in the albertain region. Movement party political strategists campaigned in the media and small town discussion and explored all possible ways through which the ordinary person will benefit from this newly found black Gold. The promise of a new wealth ahead was enough to send the electorate into hibernation or "sleep" and rest all the desires for change, as such countering almost all arguments of poverty raised by the opposition.
Finally has CHANGE worked, it has worked worldwide and will continue to work, in the latest years we have seen what has been dubbed the "Arab Spring" changes in leadership through revolutions, in Arab countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Yemen, etc.. Political leaders have been changed and policies required to meet the needs of people in today's time have been changed in countries such Saudi Arabia, Syria. The factors that have led to these changes are beyond the scope of this paper however change has taken place and methods have equally varied depending on the countries.
American President, Barack Obama Democratic party representative was ushered into Presidency on the ticket of change. Equally the same social, economic and political elitism of Americans is incomparable to Uganda; however these are historical political presidencies/grounds for CHANGE as a political campaign platform. Political change agents should study these cases for them to put up a credible political fight.
This paper sums up my analysis and update. This paper was written as an academic paper in 2001 for the department of Mass communication.
PART THREE
Update (February 7)
In the Event of writing this paper President Museveni delivered a report to the parliament of Uganda in a special secession about the state of Oil exploration.
In a spirited statement he said: I now feel that the Movement has the right ammunition to take over Kampala, sending a huge applause from Parliamentarians. "This is how I feel now"
The Movement has regained the initiative due to having the development pillars in place. We have an educated society, We have energy, We have the right security apparatus and now Oil , he said. This parliamentary secession was televised on Uganda Broadcasting Channel. (UBC).
2011 Pole Result Declared
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been declared winner of the just concluded Presidential elections that took place Friday 18th February 2011. The electoral commission chairman engineer Badru Kiggundu made the announcement on Sunday 20th February 2011. The poll results are as follows;-
1. President Yoweri Museveni (NRM) won by 68.38%. getting 5,428,369 votes out of 8,272,760 total votes.
2. Dr. Kizza Besigye (IPC) second in with 26% getting 2, 064, 963 votes.
3. Mr. Norbert Maot Democratic Party’s Norbert Mao is in third position having polled 147, 708 votes.
4. Mr. Olara Otunnu (Uganda People's Congress (UPC)
5.Ms. Betty Olive Kamya ( Uganda Federal alliance)
6.Mr. Abed Bwankia People’s Development Party
7.Mr. Jaberi Bidandi Ssali People’s Progressive Party
8.Mr. Samuel Walter Lubega Independent candidate.
Written and Edited By:
Byaruhanga Edgar Walter
Communication/Public Relations Expert
Executive Director
Development Initiatives Africa
United Nations Civil Military Coordinator, from a humanitarian perspective
Commodities, Forex and stock trader.
+256 (0) 75 1836972
+256 (0) 78 7459373
edgarbyaruhanga@yahoo.com
edgarbyaruhanga@gmail.com
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