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Citizen Posts
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There is a growing tendency with preferences of leaders to address the citizens of different ethnic backgrounds in the leader’s mother tongue, either by making quotations or references and others bragging about ancient and extinct Empires like the Chwezi with the call for the need for them to be revived while suppressing those that should have been revived to remain dormant.
Others try to mimic cultural Kingdoms that have not been in existence, while others try to propagate the enthronement of non-existent kingship while suppressing the one that has been in existence for over 500 years, like the Obugabe.
If I were a political leader in any political party, I would have questioned why the Ankole Kingdom is left out and excluded from the history of our known cultural Kingdoms. This is a distortion of our history. Revival of the cultural Kingdoms is a policy, not a personal wish.
Another factor causing polarization in our country is the creation of more administrative subdivisions, the same weapon our colonial masters used to weaken the African continent. They had a policy of divide and rule. The same weapon is being used today to divide and weaken our people. This goes against the spirit of Pan-Africanism, the continuous fragmentation of African society.
As we delve more into the political confusion and distortions our politicians have decided to embrace, we have to look briefly into the types of polarizations that are pushing us away from the nationalism we have always cherished.
Uganda today is already entangled into 2 types of polarizations. One is Mass and the other is Affective.
Mass polarization happens when the electorates’ attitudes towards general political issues, policies, celebrated figures, or other citizens are deeply divided along party affiliations and at each end, each party questions the moral legitimacy of the other, viewing the opposing party and its policies as an existential threat to their existence or survival, and this explains why NRM whenever challenged, feels threatened. They will bring out the armory as if it is war.
In Uganda, we have reached the level of affective polarization is where a particular party dislikes or distrusts those from other parties like we are not from the same country, Uganda. We treat ourselves like we are enemies from different countries. This attitude has killed the spirit of nationalism.
Surprisingly, we behave like our ideological extremes are deep-rooted when in the real sense our ideological differences are superficial, they are just pegged on party affiliation and party identity. The political intolerance in my opinion is mainly based and premised on civic ignorance and awareness.
This has now become a phenomenon where individuals’ feelings towards other members of their political party, however wrong, are viewed right, while those on the opposing side even if they are right, are viewed wrong or negative.
This is what affective polarization has brought into the nature of our political dispensation. It has killed national cohesion and instead increased divisions at all levels. I expect the new leaders to address it as one of the challenges facing the future of the country.
Uganda was loosely formed in 1894 by British on the foundations of Kingdoms and small Nations which you can call polities. The prominent ones being Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole, Toro, and rest were viewed as Nations. Therefore, in the absence of Ankole as a Kingdom, the history becomes distorted.
Mugoya Paul Polly, Concerned citizen.
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