Last weekend marked the start of the summer vacationing and barbecuing season for many Americans with the arrival of Memorial Day. While many are excited for the arrival of this holiday, it has a deeper meaning of greater reverence. Memorial Day is a day to rest from work and honor those who have served and died in the United States armed forces. Many people treat the holiday as a day of respecting these brave souls, keeping gratitude in mind for the freedoms that American citizens have as a reward for the battles fought by our decorated men and women of service.
Freedom is a debatable topic, as many can argue that no person is truly free. To possess freedom entails having no restraint cast upon oneself or no dependence in exercising one's will. Freedom is a state of independence, where one has no impeding obligations or regulations on carrying out our dispositions.
In America, citizens have the ability to express their views and opinions freely so long as they don't impede on the rights of their fellow citizens. This has given us the freedom to gather and protest.
In other parts of the world are citizens who must live lives of greater constraint by comparison. These people have less control of their own will and must endure great hardship to get through living day to day.
In the past, Ugandans have tried protesting against leading authorities. When such attempts have been made, law enforcement has acted against the people in order to subdue their efforts. Physical force can be used against unruly people as determined by an officer of the state. Take, for example, the 2006 general presidential elections, where the FDC, the leading opposition party, challenged the validity of election outcomes. Supreme Court rulings attested that voter's names were stricken from roles, irregularities occurred in counting votes and that rampant bribery and physical intimidation were used to gather votes. Despite this evidence, the ruling was made that these factors did not affect the outcome of the election and that the president would hold his position for an additional term. Riots ensued during the campaign and were often quelled by the use of tear gas and widespread restraint. Kizza Besigye, the candidate of the FDC party, was subsequently charged with counts of treason and rape, neither of which he was persecuted for.
Last weekend while Americans celebrated Memorial Day, in Uganda thousands of public education teachers across the country banded together to strike. Teachers were protesting for the passage of a 10 percent pay increase previously promised that they have yet to receive. All across the country teachers took action by not attending classes, thus delaying the start of the school term by more than a week. Fortunately this past Wednesday the Ugandan National Teachers Association came to an agreement with government officials, granting a lesser increase now with a schedule to receive the remaining pay commencing in the next fiscal year. Current funds are said to be unavailable for the education budget. Government budgets will likely be the subject of much controversy in other areas during the coming months, as 2016 marks yet another election year for the presidency.
Sources:
wikipedia.org - Ugandan general election 2006
bbc.co.uk 2006 poll rejection
Daily Monitor - clash over teachers strike
