'Consent of the people': How internal violence is influenced by the prolonged war in neighbouring countries

Uganda now suffers from a culture of violence. While it’s easy to condemn initiation of violence against a fellow human being, it's ironic that Ugandans will freely and arbitrarily re-elect a president who has had monopoly power to initiate violence against its own citizens —practically at will – for more than two decades.

To develop a truly free society, granting to Museveni even a small amount of force ahead of the General Elections is a dangerous concession. Sadly, Ugandans like Kenyans, have become accustomed to living with a government that illegitimately uses force at will. Violence has become the tool for telling the people how to live, read, vote and watch. Unfortunately in Africa, since we are used to living with presidents who can initiate violence at will, we mechanically accept violence as a lawful culture. We wrongly believe that such an authority originates from the "consent of the people."

In Kenya, as elsewhere, such an attitude has given rise to a policy of initiating wars to "do good.” Like President Uhuru’s recent claims that the war in Somalia to protect Kenya’s noble purposes at home may not be justified after all. It’s like saying "destroying a neighbour’s house to save my house is justified.” While this may make some sense remotely when your neighbour’s house catches fire, use of force to cast social and economic prosperity at home and across borders has justified individuals using force on their own terms – perhaps this also explains the increased domestic violence and killings in Kenya.

The immoral use of government force, whenever things go wrong, will be used by individuals to justify their "right" to use violence whenever things go wrong. Neither the government nor individuals have the moral right to initiate violence at will. Yet, we are moving, embracing a culture where both can claim this authority at will – the recent rise in cases of rape, murders and incest is proof. The fact that violence by the state is seen as morally justified and lawful is the same reason why violence may self-activate when General Elections go out of the kilter in 2017, culminating into political crisis.

When public officials prevail upon the state to bail out own special interests, even with disastrous results to an average citizen, they feel no guilt or remorse for the harm they cause. Those who prolong our stay in undeclared wars despite many casualties, never lose sleep over the deaths and destruction their toxic decisions cause. They believe that what they do is morally justified and the fact that many suffer afterwards is a ‘non issue’. Their actions are based on the school of deontology, where their decisions are morally right since they are driven by good will or a sense of duty. When the street criminals do the same thing, they lack remorse, as they believe they must take what is rightfully theirs. However, this too is driven by good will or sense of duty. In the end, all moral standards become relative.

Unless we reverse the cycle, the Kenyan society may soon go kaput when needs become too pressing, living conditions worsen and rights become relative to the demands and the caprices of the majority. As the household economies deteriorate and the wealth discrepancies mount, violence increases as individuals do things in their own terms to get what they believe is theirs – this explains the increased corruption among the youth. Ultimately, people will not wait for a government economy rescue program or the court’s justice.