Democracy may be a word very familiar to many people, but its a concept misunderstood and misused at a time when dictators, single – party regimes, and military coup leaders alike assert popular support by claiming the mantle of democracy. Yet the power of democratic idea has prevailed through a long and turbulent history, and democratic government, despite continuing challenges, continue to evolve and flourish throughout the world.

Democracy, which derives from the Greek word ”demos”, or ”people”, is defined basically, as a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people. In some forms, democracy can be exercised directly by the people; in large societies, it is by the people through their elected agents. Or, in the memorable phrase of President Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Freedom and democracy are often used interchangeably, but the two are not synonymous. Democracy is indeed a set of ideas and principles about freedom, but it also consist of practice and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history. In other wards democracy is the institutionalization of freedom.

In the end, people living in a democratic society must serve as the ultimate guardian of their own freedom and must forge their own path towards the ideas set forth in the preamble to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ” Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” Sometimes I laugh at people who claim that president Museveni has brought democracy in Uganda. It is unfortunate that some people justify their dictatorial positions and deviates from the truth but under democracy people must die in multitudes, be persecuted, butchered, assassinated in whoop numbers as a step to relieve the nation from the republicans of which no body seems to be ready. The situation in Uganda and other African countries have made citizens to become gossipers about their governments.  We should all remember that democracy is beyond casting a vote but the inherent protection of people’s free will, self determination, and rights. But we always have to fight for democracy because it never comes on a silver platter.

Ends