This is an August year: Two of our EAC countries will be holding
elections. On the balance, those who are optimistic about democracy in
Africa are...
thin on the ground right now, and the notion has taken a beating around the world recently.
thin on the ground right now, and the notion has taken a beating around the world recently.
I am not sure why:
There remains a lot to be said about the practice of voting for the
health of citizenship; it is one of the few times where we regular folks
can feel as though we have any influence on the greater political
arena. However slight that influence may be (or even imaginary
sometimes) it is not something to be taken lightly.
Rwanda
and Kenya are going to the ballot this week and the next one
respectively, and the journalistic profession has its demands, such as
the impetus to highlight the brewing violence and democratic travesties
that come hand in hand with so many of our elections. Here is to hoping
that these will prove to be thoroughly unexciting times, that things
will go boringly smoothly.
It has been instructive to
read the coverage of these two events by commentators from the countries
in question. Rwanda, as reported by the Rwandese, is going to be just
fine. Kenya, as reported by the Kenyans, is going to Kenya its way
through as it always does.
In the build-up to voting, something has struck me about our commonality across the region that is worth a bit of a chuckle.
Presidential debates
Presidential
candidate debates? Apparently, we just can’t. Try as we may, in
Tanzania we have never been able to pull one off and it looks like in
this electoral year, neither can our neighbours. The disappointment I
may have felt about my own incumbents in the past few elections not
showing up for a good debate has been alleviated by witnessing the
tribulations of our neighbours.
Isn’t this odd,
especially in light of the notion that most African cultures are oral
cultures? We like to show up in droves for rallies, and will sit through
almost any kind of weather to listen to a public address, no matter how
long.
We are Africans, producers of orators of such
great lung-power that some of them are legends in the United Nations,
holding records for exhausting translators as they lectured for hours
and hours.
We’re so hard-core that even when our old
men in power re-read speeches that they have given before, we politely
let them do so without interruption because we hold the gift of the gab
in such high regard.
Why, then, no debates? The
manifestos are secondary to the individual and to the party anyways, we
know most of us have made up our minds long before the tales of milk and
honey start pouring out of politicians’ mouths.
We
all have a state broadcaster that is run by executives who have been
hired on the basis of their ability to appease the fragile ego of the
state.
These consummate negotiators can generally be
trusted to rig a debate so that the incumbent will be protected from the
harshness of true competition.
I can understand the
need not to “engage” the opposition in argument as this flies in the
face of so-called respect for authority, old-school style.
Political gladiator games
And
if we are honest, it is possible that some of our leaders have been
unchallenged for so long that they wouldn’t know what to do if
confronted with a candid and direct question.
But times have changed, this is no longer the era of fly whisks and leopard skins and multiple wives.
The
contemporary voter needs constant media exposure to their candidate,
but also a demonstration of intellectual prowess. And where better to
defeat your opponents than in a televised debate? It’s not like everyone
can be Vladimir Putin, riding around shirtless and conquering opponents
on the judo mat. For mere mortals, the debate floor will have to do.
So
I commiserate with our neighbours who have also been robbed of the
opportunity to watch a presidential debate, the closest we get to
political gladiator games. Maybe next time. Happy voting.
Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report. E-mail: elsieeyakuze@gmail.com
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