A modern state is built on the pillar of the capacity to exercise monopoly over the use of physical force or violence.
Without monopolizing or centralizing the legal use of violence, society cannot have order. Without order, there can’t be progress and prosperity. Only a few societies in modern times have survived and prospered without a professional and strong national military.
In Africa, the never-ending problem of maintaining order is because the majority independent states lack the capacity to successfully monopolize and centralize the legal and legitimate use of violence.
In this regard, by far the most important achievement of Yoweri Museveni in Uganda has been in that critical aspect of state-building – monopolizing violence. Two key institutions stand at the centre of this monopoly: the military and the police.
Since independence, Uganda has had a fairly-professional and competent police force but dogged by endemic corruption and lack of basic policing equipment. There has also been the bigger problem of scandalous remuneration with horrible work and living conditions for majority of police officers.
In recent years, at the behest of a partisan head of police, the force has had a turnaround, getting huge financial resources, but has become less professional. Corruption has remained endemic, and work conditions of most officers have remained appalling, if not worsened.
The police has been the primary tool for regime survival yet it has not benefited in doing that job, but individual commanders have cashed in at a personal level.
By contrast, since independence, Uganda has never had a truly national and professional military. The best we have produced is the current national army, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF). Many Ugandans are proud of the UPDF, much less the police force.
The transformation in relations between the military and civilians has been remarkable, for which the UPDF should be saluted. One day, I encountered a UPDF Land Cruiser vehicle at a road intersection. The driver was supposed to wait. He didn’t, and almost knocked my car.
He immediately recognized his mistake and stopped to apologize. Why did he do that? Presumably because he knew if I reported him to his superiors, he would easily get into trouble.
But this sort of transformation in civil-military relations has not happened at the level of military power and civilian authority. Although Museveni turned to the police to directly secure his stay in power, he has simultaneously maintained his grip on the UPDF in a manner that undermines the long-term viability of the institution.
While the police is the weapon for domestic politics, the UPDF has been a tool for foreign policy influence in the region and leverage over Western allies, the USA and European Union.
The biggest moot point remains with the command structure of the UPDF and its subordination to civilian authority. This is the crux of a modern, professional army. Here, there is a big cause for worry.
Last week, we had the bizarre incident where General Elly Tumwine, who holds no office in the UPDF hierarchy or civilian politics, except being a member of parliament, presided over the handover of office to a new chief of defense forces.
He had the temerity to congratulate himself and the commander in chief for seeing through the successful transfer of command and leadership of the UPDF from the older group to a relatively-younger crop of officers.
But Tumwine needed to be a little candid and mention that over three decades, we have had eight army commanders but just one commander in chief.
Also, that there is personalization of the army and blatant disregard of proper procedures, including the fact that he, Tumwine, had no business presiding over the handover. If not the commander in chief or the vice-president, the only other person to be delegated for that function would be the minister for defense.
A lot of positive things have been said about the new CDF, General David Muhoozi. We should all, as Ugandans, wish him well in leading a very important national institution.
But Muhoozi, his deputy, and the joint chief of staff must do some soul-searching about the murmurs one easily finds in the Ugandan public: the ethnic slant. MP and Observer columnist Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda has bluntly and consistently spoken out against this problem; so, there is little need to belabor here.
The new UPDF leadership must consciously know they are commanding a national army, not a personal organization owned by General Museveni.
For its own professional pedigree, the leadership must stand on the side of the common good for society, and not private, personal ambitions and interests of those seeking state power.
We are still eager for that elusive breakthrough of getting a new commander in chief through a peaceful, fair, and smooth process. After more than 30 years of one-man rule, it is becoming close to inevitable that the change will have to happen. The UPDF will be very crucial in this.
moses.khisa@gmail.com
The author teaches political science at Northwestern University/Evanston, Chicago-USA.