The role of youth in civil society and democratisation

Omar Kalinge

The democratisation process in Uganda implies difficult challenges for the actors involved. The main difficulties stem from the nature of Uganda’s politics, her post conflict reality and post colonial legacy that created a class of elites that is almost detached from the realities of the people they profess to serve, through leadership. The dire economic conditions in which Ugandans have had to operate over the years make democratic efforts more complicated.

In spite of all the limitations, the youth have always played a major role in the growth of the nation. Unfortunately there has been the NRM reinforced view that the youth are a vulnerable group that should depend affirmative action and on patronage by the ruling party.

Youths are energetic, mostly free of family obligations, adventurous, hopeful and often daring. These are attributes that youth organisations and political parties can benefit from.   On the other hand, the youth can be reckless, inexperienced, arrogant, confused, short sighted and ignorant. This is why they should belong to the right organisations to guide and educate them, and to clear their confusion that arises from the conflicting messages they receive from their surroundings.  Today the youths are told that they are completely free without obligations. That they are free to enjoy alcohol, sex before marriage, homosexuality and lesbianism and to spend their nights in night clubs and loud parties, to do drugs and all behaviour that can only lead to destruction.

Political parties and youth organisations must help the youth to stay clear of these destructive vices and channel the immense energy and potential of the youth to constructive activities to build the nation and to succeed in life.

The youth are a very important sector  of society. Their importance lies in their energy and the hope they hold for the future. There is an undeniable need for the youth to participate actively in the
democratic processes in Uganda. Youth are eager to claim their space on the political arena, to play bigger roles in their political parties.  However they don’t seem ready to meaningfully contribute to the strengthening of their parties. They don’t have the required organizational skills to do so. We propose a strategy of the youth participating more and more in civil society organisations. CSOs are very important agents of democratisation and provide more space for youth action and serve as the training grounds for democracy, leadership and good governance.

A commonly used definition in academic writings suggests that civil society is; “An intermediate associational realm between the state and family populated by organizations which are separated from the state, enjoy autonomy in relation to the state and are formed voluntarily by members of the society to protect and extend their interests or values”.

Civil society is assumed to be “both the force that can hold governments accountable and the base upon which a truly democratic culture can be built.”  Some argue, though, that a flourishing or vibrant, civil society can neither emerge, nor be sustained, in the weak state context like Uganda’s. We shall return to this on another occasion.

We hesitate to encourage the youth to be too active in political leadership activities unless they have been first tried and tested in civil society environments. Building nations is work that starts from the grassroots.  We want to persuade the youth to participate with the grassroots, understand the needs of the people, articulate them, advocate, agitate, negotiate, and develop a clear agenda for nation building and development.

While it might be exciting for the youth to want to rise to the top and take over their political party’s leaderships, it is not the wise thing to do at this time at this stage in the democratic process of the country. Uganda’s present political leaders, those in and out of power, are so detached from the real needs of the local populations, there must be a conscious effort on the part of the politically conscious youth to seek an active engagement with the communities in which they live before they jump into the political fray. More than 90% of Uganda is rural. That is where the real work is. That is where the real leaders of tomorrow should be focusing. That is from where the future leaders will emerge.

omarkalinge@gmail.com