Albert Moravia, an Italian novelist and journalist reasoned, ‘’Democracy does not recognize East or West; democracy is simply people’s will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.”
The International Day of Democracy is celebrated around the world in the month of September each year through a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007. A quick glance at the state of affairs in the East African states; Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is a reflection of autocracy which has left the democratic framework dented so seriously that it might take a while to correct the mess.
Endemic highhandedness by the ruling elite who use the state security apparatus at will to clamp down real or perceived dissidents from within or without, disregard to the rule of law and constitutionalism, cancerous corruption, mismanagement of state investments and decimation of sections of the population is a hallmark that which in the words of Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a K’iche’ Guatemalan human rights activist, and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate said, “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Of necessity in East Africa right now is to demand for return to democratic rule of law.
Politically, Tanzania is set to elect a ‘’new’’ president in October 2025. However, the process of getting a president for a new term is so slapdash that the international community should move in and help Tanzanians get back to the path of democracy. The incumbent, Samia Suluhu of the Chama cha Mapinduzi party (CCM) is racing on the track alone, without an opponent. In August 2025, Luhaga Mpina, a CCM lawmaker, left the party and joined the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT). However, he was barred from running for president over complaints that the party had failed to comply with nomination procedures in the primaries
The Chama cha Demokrasia and Maendeleo (CHADEMA) leader and the likely presidential candidate, Tundu Antipas Lissu was arrested on 9 April 2025, on charges of incitement and treason after repeatedly calling for electoral reforms. Three days later on 12 April 2025 in what seemed to be a well-rehearsed script, he was disqualified from participating in the election. Before then, on 7 September 2017, Lissu, whilst in his car, was shot multiple times and seriously injured by unknown assailants in the parking lot of his parliamentary residence in, Dodoma. He underwent over 20 complex medical operations.
In Tanzania, being a regime nonconformist can have serious consequences and a good example is how Maria Teshai Sarungi was almost kidnapped by alleged assassins on 12 January 2025 in Nairobi. Other activists and political actors like Tito Magoti, Freeman Mbowe, Theodory Giyani and Catherine Ruge have had it rough for simply standing for the rights of Tanzanians. The apparent intimidation by the Tanzanian police and military in surrounding the Tanzania Law Society offices is a democratic lunacy, notch higher.
Uganda, is heavily bound by a wave of dictatorship under president Yoweri Museveni who has been in power since 1985. Human Rights Watch notes that Uganda’s human rights environment remains restrictive, with the government clamping down on free expression, peaceful assembly, and dissent. Authorities have arrested and charged individuals for criticizing officials online.
Key political figures in Uganda have faced harsh government mishandling. In November 2024, People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) leader Dr. Kizza Besigye and a close associate disappeared while in Kenya before being returned to Uganda and detained by a military court. The two stood accused of seeking to acquire weapons from foreigners, a charge that is so preposterous for anyone to believe. Just like the Tanzanian case, this is a clear ploy to ensure that the incumbent clears all the possible opponents ahead of the next general elections slated for 12th January 2026. Bobi Wine, a fierce critic of the Museveni administration has faced all manner of harassment, illegal arrests, torture, imprisonment and attempts on his life. Many people who have been at loggerheads with the regime have been jailed, disappeared and others killed.
In Kenya, though there is relative democratic space, the mis-happenings of June 2024 when the youth in a revolution dubbed the Genz riots took to the streets to question the status quo and call to an end bad governance, corruption and ill-advised finance bill. The aftermath was illegal arrests, disappearances, torture, shoot to kill orders and further suppression of the civic space. The situation continues to worsen especially in the economic aspect due high cost of living, high taxation especially on Health and ill-advised housing projects.
Generally, the East African democratic situation is worsening and its up to the citizens in the true sense of the East African federation move fast to reclaim their space. Just like the three regimes have perfected the art of cross border human rights abuses as has been seen in the abduction of Kiza Besigye in Kenya, attempted kidnapping of Maria Sarungi in Kenya and arrest and Torture of Boniface Mwangi in Tanzania and Agather Atuhaire in Tanzania, the citizens of the three countries need to come together and fight for their democratic space.
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