Civil society organisations can remain politically active yet balanced

The objective norm of civil society organizations not being “partisan” seems to have been taken to a bewildering level.  Today, most civil society groups spend a lot of time trying to dispel allegations of being “partisan” or “political”. They shy away from the fact that they operate in a political environment.  This is a waste of time especially if you are working in a highly political milieu like present day Uganda.  In fact, theoretical underpinnings by Greek philosopher Aristotle put it clearly, ‘all human beings are political in nature’.  Politics is broader than political parties or the leaders we elect to hold public offices or even the day-to-day operations of the state.  Politics incorporates people’s dealings right from the smallest unit – whether at home, school, garden, office or any other part of the eco-system. 

In one way or another, an individual interacts with politics and he or she is affected by politics on a daily basis.

From the 1970s until very recently, many civil society organizations would never want to be associated with any political institution – be it political party or government.  To many of them, this has been the definition of being ‘non-partisan’.  Even though this label is beginning to change, many organizations are still trapped in this sort of thinking.  Those organizations working on democracy and governance issues continue to tread so carefully on contentious issues and even sometimes negate their advocacy role simply because of the fear to be branded ‘partisan’ or ‘political’.

It is however also true that sometimes the government or the opposition political parties have used this card to honor or harm the reputation of civil society organizations. 

To civil society organizations, it is not wrong to be political but it may be undermining to be partisan or lopsided during the execution of respective programmes.   

Prior to Uganda’s independence, we had very vibrant civil society initiatives like the Uganda National Farmers Union and the Buganda African Motors Drivers Union (BANU); from the very start, these were highly political civil society organizations that effectively responded to popular discontent at that time.  Even though one would argue that with time these became partisan, it is important to note that these civil society organizations effectively delivered on their mandate to mobilize the citizenry to petition for independence without attaining the label of partisanship.

Lately the trend in Uganda has been for civil society to recede from leading advocacy on highly political or ‘sensitive’ issues. The number of voices from civil society championing reforms in elections, security sector, constitution, land laws etc is steadily decreasing.  Unfortunately, one of the main reasons to account for this phenomenon is fear of being branded partisan or political. 

In other parts of the world such as Latin America and Eastern Europe, civil society organizations have taken on the mantle of staging effective resistance to authoritarian governments and advocating for democratic change.  In this way, these organizations have been seen as promoters of democratic polity; and also as institutions that have the ability to mobilise citizens to have their say on critical issues. Today, these civil society organizations have won themselves a place as an essential ingredient in the democratization process of their countries. 

Civil society organisations by all measures must be strong in defense of the citizens’ social, economic and political interests. 

As civil society groups carry out their rightful role, they should strive to do it with objectivity and avoid being caught up in the whims of political subjectivity

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loss of confidence in the Ugandan government Institutions; where is the hope for the common citizen?

Lately, my colleague and Political analyst, Gwada Ogot has engaged me in serious discussions on the degenerating trust and confidence in public institutions representative of democracy not only in Uganda but in many of the post 1950 new states.   In Uganda specifically, the past and current political developments undertone citizen’ dissatisfaction with, and lack of confidence in, the functioning of most government institutions.   Prior to the 2011 general elections, sections of society rejected the composition of the Electoral Commission (EC).   These sections of the public branded the Commission as an incompetent, partisan institution and highlighted it as incapable of presiding over a credible and fair election hence passing a vote of no confidence in it as an electoral institution.    At the peak echelon of political activity, the opposition’s indifference on the election results of the February 18 th , Presidential elections and the subsequent move by th...
Read more

Dialogue should have been the first resort to resolve Uganda's current problems

President Museveni’s call for political dialogue with the opposition party’ leaders which hit the headlines of most local Ugandan media outlets this week reminded me of Winston Churchill’s famous quote: " Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities ."  Putting this in perspective, Ugandans too can always be counted on to do the right thing after they have exhausted all other possibilities.   When the opposition decided to go to the 2011 polls, the initial mood was greeted with the feeling that all opposition political parties were going to field a single candidate under the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC). Essentially, this would have been one of the wittiest ways that the opposition would have strengthened its competitive position for the 2011 elections.  As seen in some countries such as Kenya, a broad spectrum of opposition groups have adopted the initiative of coalitions by forming a common front ...
Read more

CCTV Cameras? Our neighbourhood structures can do a better job!

In the village where I was raised in mid-western Uganda was a functional Resistance Council (RC), which later mutated into a Local Council (LC) with the adoption of the 1995 Constitution.   One of the members of the executive that has for a very long time stuck on my mind was the secretary for defence; he was called Mr. Boniface Byaruhanga.   This was not an era of mobile phones, but for lack of a fair expression, I will say, everyone on the village had Byaruhanga on their speed dial. Because of his active service, he was later to be commonly known as “Byaruhanga Defence”.   He did a super amazing job! God rest his soul in eternal peace.   This man generally kept the village defended and safe.   He outwitted petty thieves, burglars and any form of criminals. For some reason, he knew everyone on the village; a village that sheltered slightly over 800 folks.   We felt safe even on those days when we occasionally walked through the thick tree-lined avenues...
Read more