Debate has been raging online about Ugandans' take on how disgruntled they are about public issues and governance.
Ugandans have taken to all sorts of social media most especially 'TikTok' and 'X' formerly 'Twitter' to show dissatisfaction about the complex social and political setting.
A large number of online users have found their leadership actually unable to adapt and find solutions to society's problems. Successful leaders are meant to build prosperous nations and play a primary role in shaping ideas to ensure that development policy prevails unlike the Ugandan leaders who prioritize parochial, selfish political interests.
It was not until a few weeks ago during a casual conversation with friends that we noticed some of the renowned National Resistance Movement (NRM) online supporters who had joined the 'lamentation crusade' around Uganda's process of democratization being in a difficult moment.
Many of them have always argued as to why Uganda needs more of economic development - a driven-leader whom Ugandans have invested in as the president than democracy. Another scapegoat to justify democracy is the cycle of the election process that these NRM supporters believe has always been free and fair.
This realization got me disturbed and pleased at the same time. Disturbed because a fraction of the elite who engaged in the online debate did not recognize that at the broadest level, a decline in the political and civil rights has a far-reaching impact in economic development of similar developing countries.
This seems quite implausible but it is not by accident that Hong Kong and Singapore, a few of the world richest countries today, are all liberal democracies.
Skeptics might still argue that democracy is not the best way for poor countries to become richer. They always point to China's amazing growth record over the past 50 years yet the evidence does not support this view.
A 2019 paper, 'Demoracy Does Cause Growth', by Acemoglu and others, argues that "there's an economically and statistically significant positive effect of democracy on future GDP per capita."
Thus, long-run GDP increases by 20 per cent in 20 years following democratisation, which applies to developing countries such as Uganda. Arguably far more important, in Carl Henrik's briefing notes for V-Dem Institute, the outcomes of autocracy show much higher variance.
Thus, when autocrats are good, they might be indeed very good, but when they are bad, they are horrid. Looking at our leaders that rigged elections to assume positions of power, it is what the Baganda call "Ba kaggwa ensonyi" - meaning those devoid of shame. They drag us to a dysfunction of state systems, breakdown of public services and embezzlement of funds, but we demand accountability that is never given.
The point is autocracy is unaccountable and unaccountable governments can do anything. We take this for granted, and imagine that a dictator would owe us something but the more pro-NRM chants on social media, the more he affirms our irrelevance.
The point is the strongman owes us nothing. We get abused and we get used to it. Democracy prevents such dire outcomes because it has in-built methods of correction. Even if a democracy has inadequate civil, political and legal rights, as too many do, elections might still make a difference.
The fact of elections is a constraint in Uganda The great argument for democracy is not that it will produce good rule, but it will prevent terrible rule, which is the worst thing societies can have, except for absence of rule - in other words, anarchy.
The more complete the set of rights, the potent the constraints will be: there will also be freedom to protest, free media and independent institutions.
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As Yascha Mounk argues in The Identity Trap, democracy is always fragile. It is fragile because some people want to be tyrants and too many people want to trust them. This is also more likely if democracies fail to deliver the goods that people desire - a sense of belonging, of security, of being valued.
The NRM online propagandists are right about the president-leapfrogging infrastructure for economic development. But they are wrong when they argue that an undemocratic Uganda can go under big transformative changes. This is true even if democracies are imperfect, even though autocracies sometimes work for a while.
Democracy delivers accountability for governments and a voice for citizens. That is far better for us serving under the whims of despots.
The writer is a physical planner and values-based leadership enthusiast.
