A youth leader , patriot and youth councillor and deputy speaker Nkoma-katalyeba town council. A founder of CBO called WOYEI
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I strongly condemn this too and as a victim I have experienced firsthand the emotional and psychological impact of these practices, In the previous elections I found myself spending hours not discussing policies or youth issues, but defending myself against falsehoods that had been manufactured and spread both online and on ground.
Having been falsely labelled a lesbian, portrayed as the daughter of Gen. Kale Kayihura despite never having known my father, recently in someone’s office seeking support on a certain project, one innocently asked “but your father is now in good terms with gov’t why cant he help on this, me wondering …aint you Gen KK’s daughter they addex ? ” then me again in defense mode even after elections .
Others fabricated stories linking me romantically to senior public figures ,The misinformation became so widespread that, at one point, an individual reached out to me reassuring how it was okay and acceptable to identify as gay and that support was available should I need it , Imagine as a christian ugandan girl the embarrasment to vividly comfirm that such exist even.
Imagine the humiliation of having to explain repeatedly that none of these claims were true, Imagine entering a meeting with youth leaders only to spend hours clearing the air about rumours rather than discussing solutions for their day to day challenges ,Imagine trying to lead while constantly defending your identity, your family background, your faith, and your personal integrity.
No one talks enough about the trauma that young leaders take home, the public sees politics, but they do not always see the anxiety, emotional exhaustion, embarrassment, and mental strain caused by coordinated misinformation and personal attacks.
What is most concerning is that many of these attacks are not necessarily started by candidates themselves. Often, they are spread by supporters, online mobilisers, and social media influencers seeking political relevance through malice and sensationalism yet the damage is suffered by real people.
Today, the situation is becoming even more dangerous with Artificial intelligence (AI) that can generate convincing fake content, manipulated images and more.
In all this I ask my self ,Is it too late ?
Is it really impossible to establish and enforce a code of conduct for political engagement? Do we need political ethics programmes for young leaders and political mobilisers? Why is it that in many youth political spaces, the person with the loudest insults and most damaging rumours often receives more attention than the person with the best ideas and these grow to be the ministers, CEOs and EDs of tomorrow .
A young woman may run for Guild President, Youth Councillor, Member of Parliament, or any other leadership position, weather she wins or loses, she should not emerge from that process emotionally damaged because society normalised abuse as part of politics.
We have become too comfortable with the phrase, “That’s politics.” But politics should never require the destruction of another person’s dignity,leadership should be a contest of ideas,values,and vision,not lies, character assassination, and psychological warfare.
Uganda should seriously consider reforms that protect young leaders and society at large, these reforms could include ; enforceable digital campaign codes of conduct, political ethics programmes, civic education on responsible online engagement, rapid response mechanisms against cyberbullying and misinformation, and stronger accountability for those who deliberately spread falsehoods starting with the candidates, making the supporters being responsible to protect their interests.
Most importantly, we must revive something that appears to be disappearing from our public discourse, conscience, decency, and basic manners.
It is not too late to change course. The future of our democracy depends on raising a generation of leaders who compete through ideas and service rather than abuse and propaganda.
Such generational leader,So eloquent whether I am almost loosing focus. I remember centered agenda and I strongly believe one day we shall eat big.
As a saying goes if a young person washes his/her hands he/she well can dine with kings. We have already washed our hands well
@NamaraDennisMP@Parliament_Ug You have over 80 ministers, president, speaker and his deputy. So you still not satisfied? We are NRM and PLU but you are doing bad may Lord punish you to the worst