Demonstrators protest in Nairobi’s central business district. Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images
During an event to commemorate the International Day of Democracy I spoke about East Africa’s journey to democracy and current status of democracy in Uganda with the Democracy Development Programme in South Africa.
The activities were geared towards intensifying meaningful awareness of democracy, reflecting on the principles of democracy and taking stock of how East Africa and Africa as a whole is upholding democracy.
Certainly, Africa’s democracy is on a lifeline, with the latest victim in the spotlight being Tanzania.
Last month, Ali Mohamed Kibao, a member of the secretariat of the main opposition Chadema party, the challengers of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ruling party, was kidnapping and brutally murdered
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan condemned the killing but her government is detaining top opposition figures, and is seen to be behind the abductions and deaths of government critics. Chamenda’s chairperson Freeman Mbowe and his deputy, Tundu Lissu, were detained for trying to hold a youth rally.
Samia Suluhu has threatened to crack down on any dissenting voices and people attempting to stage protests against the repression of political opponents.
Despite the very little recent criticism from diplomatic missions for the brutal assassination of Ali Kibao, there seems to be no guardrails on Samia Suluhu’s repression and suppression tendencies.
Tanzania is following in Uganda’s footsteps, where there is increasing repression by the ruling National Resistance Movement government of its political opponents.
About a month ago, Robert Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine), the leader of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party, was shot in the leg by police in the capital Kampala. The NUP said in a post on X that “Security operatives have made an attempt on the life of President @HEBobiwine.”
The police said they had attempted to stop him and his supporters from marching down a road when the incident occurred.
The police and military actions in Uganda and Tanzania on instructions of the sitting presidents towards political opponents threatens the rule of law, the right to dissent and constitutionalism, shattering the path to democracy.
We are not only witnessing the backsliding of democracy but also the unveiling of the wrath of dictatorship and totalitarianism.
The murder of Ali Kibao is just another statistic in the on-going oppression of political opponents and democracy activists around the world.
So many dictators disguise themselves as democrats while repressing political opponents and suppressing dissenting voices.
For instance, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponent Alexei Navalny, who was detained in a penal colony, died in February 2024 with authorities saying the cause was “sudden death syndrome”. Now a new report has emerged suggesting he was poisoned.
Putin’s great friend, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, has ruled the country for 31 years. In August, former finance minister Berhane Abrehe died in prison six years after he was detained for describing Afwerki as a dictator. The causes of his death are not known and his case never came to trial. In 2017, security forces mercilessly killed 28 opposition supporters, is another example of the right to dissent being denied.
Bekele Gerba, the main opposition figure of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in August this year sought political asylum in the United States. He has been imprisoned three times and now fears for his life. He said: “I realised that the political situation in Ethiopia was constantly deteriorating” with “intimidation, mass murders and arrests”.
Gerba is not the only political opponent to flee the African continent; thousands upon thousands of political refugees are seeking new safer homes and opportunities away from disguised dictatorships.
Political asylum seekers are flooding democratic countries in Europe, United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Many of these embattled Africans from undemocratic countries end up dying in the Mediterranean Sea.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for democracy deliverers to join together to deal with repression of political opponents, suppression of dissenting voices and electoral malpractices that are destroying democracy.
There is the untamed abuse of electoral processes, voter suffocation and suppression of potential presidential candidates with excessive impunity.
For example, President Paul Kagame’s regime in Rwanda barred the main opposition leader, Victoire Ingabire, from contesting for presidential election.
Kagame’s act violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”
What shocks me is that all these undemocratic acts happen under the watch of the United Nations, organisations for regional cooperation and signed international treaties.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of governments” anchored on the cardinal principle of inclusive participation to safeguard democracy.
I am starting to think that these international agreements and commitments to protect people’s rights and democracy are increasingly becoming nonfunctional.
The UN and regional organisations seem to be extremely vulnerable to certain member states.
As we celebrate International Day of Democracy, we need to ask: what is the lifeblood of democracy? If democracy is on a lifeline, whose duty is it to tame the growing impunity of dictators? Who will protect the repressed political opponents at the front line, the likes of Robert Kyagulanyi, Nelson Chamisa, Baba Wino and Kasmuel McOure?
African nations such as Libya and Sudan are going through civil unrest and economic instabilities as a result of abuse of democracy while Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea and Benin are under sanctions.
It’s time to end double standards by the democracy deliverers, regional corporations and the United Nations.
If a nation decides to undermine democratic institutions and political parties, murder political figures and go against the principles of democracy, let effective and tough sanctions be imposed instead of hobnobbing with dictators and their enablers.
Civil society organisations, religious institutions and the media should work to provide safe spaces and give a voice to the democracy hunters at the front lines.
A free and independent media is the cornerstone of democratic societies and it is strategically prudent for philanthropists to invest in it to safeguard democracy for humanity to stay at peace.
Robert Kigongo is a sustainability analyst and democracy hunter.