Ugandans search for common ground in run-up to 2011 elections

A report of the pluralism knowledge programme conference

Tags: Uganda, Promoting Pluralism

´Ugandans have been too engrossed with our differences. We have a history of tribalism that manifest itself in the idea that one has to create strong tribal entities that are able to dominate the othes. We must accept plurality as a fact and a gift and identify the common ground. This is a challenge for our political leadership, but also for each of us here.´ Key note speaker Bisshop Zac Niringiye conveyed this message to the participants of the pluralism knowledge programme conference in Kampala, supported by various speakers.

The conference, organised by the Cross-cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) brought together civil society activists, academics, cultural leaders and political party representatives to discuss first results of research carried out in central and northern Uganda on ways of managing diversity in local communities. In all studied communities, diversity was seen as a challenge. Newcomers from other ethnic groups are considered as deviating from the norm.Traditional practices of managing diversity differ, but overall newcomers are expected to ´buy-into´ the dominant culture by learning the dominant language and adopting local names and to perform services to the dominant group as labourers with lower social status. Local leadership is often in the hands of the dominant ethnic group and patronage is the system by which resources are being spread in a community.

This latter concept of governance was strongly criticized by Bp. Niringiye. He argued that politicians and citizens should not have a master-servant relationship. If one was to speak about a ´master´ it should be an ideology: ideas on which people agree to organise. The current policy to establish ever more districts to ringfence a certain community was not in the interest of that community but simply a tactic of ´divide and rule´ that enforced tribalism.

Attending activists and politicans considered the debate highly relevant in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2011. One opposition candidate indicated that the party was searching for input for its political programme. ´Making politics more issue-based rather than a fight of individuals with ethnic (and/or religious) constituencies is one of our challenges to confront the looming threat of violence around elections´ one activist remarked.

At the same time, speakers debated the applicability of the concept of pluralism. Bp. Niringiye described the roots of the concept as Europe´s 16th century enlightenment period. He considered pluralism as individual freedom without boundaries, without the acknowledgement that there are common norms. This ´extreme´ concept should not be argued for as a valuable alternative to tribalism. Instead, Ugandans should celebrate their plurality, engage with each other to identify common ground, shared values and shared identity.

An interview with Bisshop Zac Niringiye can be accessed at the online forum 'Religion, Gender and Politics' at openDemocracy.
Read the complete report of the pluralism knowledge programme conference (Kampala, 22 June 2010) here.