ON JOURNEYS TOO BROKEN

And there I was, me the master of chaos

Caught up in a lovers trail

Two people who had just gotten engaged carried all of us broken as we were to celebrate their new milestone 

And there he was, the epitome of my mistakes. Him who felt like home for very many years or maybe the thought of home in him overwhelmed me I had no way around not seeing his unreadiness.

And so the night wavered on, me more angry than the moment I walked in. Not sure if I loved this man or loathed him. And so the bottle in front of me did the talking, I tried to swallow but what do you swallow when every glance towards him brings me pain and an ache I couldn’t dismiss even if I wanted to.

And so the hours went on, me not sure what to do with him and him...Well I might never know where he stands through it all. You see, he taught me not to trust the tongue...not even from the person whose presence awakens me in all areas of my life.

Citizen engagement is pivotal for the National dialogue.

In the ever-receding space for dissent in Uganda, we need to continually create shock absorbers and tension deterrents for the people and government. Our history of bloodshed disqualifies war as an alternative solution to our differences and so dialogue is the way to go.

In the post- independence era, Uganda has gone through civil wars, coup-d'etats and turmoil yet here we are inspite of the journey that got us here. In the wake of our desire to create a better Uganda for ourselves and those coming after us, we need to encourage dialogue on how we get ahead in our journey as a Nation.

The Uganda National Dialogue convened by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda and The Elders Forum Uganda, is one unprecedented platform working towards “The Uganda we want. For a successful process, the inclusion and participation of the local citizenry is paramount. Platforms at the grassroots, therefore, must be created to cultivate a national character of the dialogue.

 At its fulcrum, the national dialogue should be inclusive and citizen owned. We want a dialogue that is not just a project but rather a soul searching reflection to fix our existential political, economic and social issues. This dialogue can stop Ugandans from plunging into a war or civil uprising; the National dialogue is framed to provide adequate platforms for all stakeholders to channel their ideas and opinions.

Incorporation of discussions and debate on local, national and international levels as a means for local and regional officials to hear the community views on public issues is of great importance. The upside of an informed citizenry is that they can hold their leaders accountable and task them to perform better and improve service delivery to their constituencies. It is therefore imperative for us to push for dissemination of information on dialogue to the smallest unit of governance in Uganda.

In fostering dialogue, we can find working solutions within our communities, using a blend of traditional informal systems like local and city council meetings and new digital solutions for dialogue like social media, video interfaces, and mobile applications among others. Civic engagement reaffirms the need for inclusion and transparency and deliberate public participation. Broad participation can be achieved by linking local dialogues to the national dialogue and that can be fully realized in the public consultations on the eight thematic issues highlighted by the dialogue.

 Adding digital solutions to dialogue in the wake of digital space dominance can improve citizen participation by continuing civic dialogue online. Ugandans can then use the available platforms to raise funds, track on the progress of the dialogue within their communities and follow media appearances of their leaders and conveners.

Key to note is that dialogue is not necessarily absent in our society but in abeyance. We are a generation that would rather talk at each other than talk to each other. As Ugandans, we need to champion ownership of change and in discourse we make room for civic engagement and public legitimacy of the dialogue process.

Therefore, educating Ugandans on how dialogue processes work influences their participation because an enlightened citizenry is more aligned to ask for better service delivery, accountability and engagement. With an agenda that addresses the underlying issues of our country, a clear mandate on all processes that the National dialogue will undertake, we can use the best practices herein to achieve our desired goal and vision for a better Uganda.

Tricia Gloria Nabaye.

RESEARCH FELLOW AT GREAT LAKES INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES

ON WHY WE DIE SO EASILY

I remember a few years back, Out of the blue, I developed a teratoma in the most unexpected places-the butt cheek. I spent over three months asking the nurses I worked with at the hospital what that was and for some reason it never dawned on me that asking a doctor was an option:One, because the doctors that were available were male and Two: The plastic surgeon was not around. Eventually the pain grew on me and as timely as the universe can be sometimes, the surgeon showed up when I couldn’t take the pain anymore, amidst my fear of him seeing my butt, I went in and saw him, had surgery scheduled that very day and had the procedure to remove the teratoma.

Looking back on the possibilities of a graver situation and the time I spent worried of the male doctors and them seeing my butt, I realized that they are many people that show up just a little too late to be helped out of their demise.

I have heard many times doctors say, “If only you had come earlier” sometimes some just give a stern exclaim;”If you had come a day late, it would’ve been bad news” And it got me thinking, why are we scared of the one thing that could give us hope? I know many people worry that going to the hospital to do checkups is tempting the devil or evil beckoning things that are not there in the first place but the upside to knowing your health status is in surviving grave situations.

We need to invest in our health and in finding help sooner than later. In saying that, I realize that it has been a few years since I last had a dental appointment and absurdly it has taken tooth sensitivity to create a desire to check in with the dentist never mind the fact that I am a little scared to show the dentist my teeth lest he is in awe of the damage and the length of period it took me to check in.

So I am going to go nevertheless, To get fixed, for it is ever so useless to take care of the material things like cars(have them serviced) Renovate houses, only to have your system bail out on you.

ON WHY IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNITE UGANDANS FOR ANY PROGRESS TO BE ACHIEVED

As a Ugandan, my biggest challenge has been to identify as one in a pool of sects that lie across the divide and have been ingrained in the population of this land.

We are divided by language, tribal orientation, political belonging among other trivial aspects like football most especially European teams. In as much as society is made out of belonging, the bigger face of our identity would be “Ugandan”. We are supposed to be first Ugandan before we subscribe to any other sect of our society. 

Peculiar of us, is that we are more Ugandan abroad than home. We identify more with our nationality away from home and the thirst to escape this land keeps on growing by the day.

This is the first discussion point in the long journey of creating progress in most of the initiatives for transformation in Uganda. We need to unite as a people raised in diversity which for the better part should be good, because everyone ultimately has something to offer to the transformation of our nation. I have seen Ugandans unite and come together and express their "Ubuntu" on many occasions. Ugandans have supported the National teams unconditionally.

 Ugandans run successful health drives to help the ailing Ugandans in our society. And so it is in that spirit that one can arguably conclude that the sense of oneness and community is not alien to us.

Therefore; in the vie for development and transformation of our country, we as the people need to push for patriotic oneness embedded ever so strongly in our heritage as Ugandans. It is of great importance because everything else that we are to accomplish as Ugandans lies in our ability to realize our duty as Ugandans.

The truth in the slogan, " Together we stand, divide we fall" is evident in our history as a nation from the colonial times, when the colonialists implored divide and rule to conquer Uganda. Our strength as a people lies in standing united, in bringing our diverse heritage and forge away forward as one people, in taking pride in our diversity and Ugandaness.

We need to unite and push for Nation pride and be supportive of home grown products and services. We need to support initiatives that put Ugandans at the forefront of their development and governance. In loving our country and uniting for its betterment lies our ability to work together, prosper together and progress forward as a Nation.

In the words of Jesus Christ, "And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand". Mark 3:25

ON VOICES OF DISSENT IN UGANDA

Uganda is a diverse Nation in construct, Different forms of diversity not only identify us but also distinguish us from the many people in this land. We hail from different regions, that are composed of different tribes that speak different languages. we also as a people, practice different religion. 

Such diversity should be able to elevate us into achieving different goals for the greater good so we can grow as a Nation. Our differences are meant to increase our productivity in the long run.

Being multi-lingual, with a multi party system as well, Uganda has created representation of people of all divides everywhere.  But like our divisions on tribes, unfortunately our political parties represent religion, tribal orientation before they represent our political bearing and values.

With such an enabling environment, the unity of Ugandans has become elusive and abstract in nature. This has ultimately stifled the role of dissent in pushing governance and development ahead. We as a people have been brought to a cross road, where to speak the truths of this land almost sounds like being anti-government and this is evident in the;

The level of intolerance among each other; 
We have become very intolerant of each other's views and have become both defensive and dismissive in our discourse.
Our reality has come to a place where we cannot  talk to each other without the looming cloud of sects.

The creation of catalyst to deter dissent;
Government through the Public Order Management Act(2013), has left no room for other political parties to exercise their freedom to assemble. The Act holds a bias on a small sect of people in society and it has also exposed the impartiality of the military and police forces in implementing this law. And so, if you speak contrary to the status quo of government, you are labelled "anti-government" and from there on are treated as such, and consequently will be caught up in a witch hunt,with the security organs of the land.
And it is the witch hunt, arbitrary arrests and elimination of voices of dissent that has made it hard for democracy to thrive in Uganda.

We need voices of dissent to create a balance in the discourse and engagements that push for the development of this land. We need to create a society that adheres to and embraces dissent and the different faces of democracy for without them this becomes a dictatorship, where the decisions of the day take only one individual to make at the expense of a whole Nation.

Dissent fosters objectivity and checks impunity, for where alternative voices are given audience, new strategies to governance and democracy are welcomed and used for the greater good. So we need to work towards achieving a society that can accommodate  the different voices that make this land unique in its construct.