Paper short abstract:

Participatory radio talk shows in contemporary Uganda are the sites of the elaboration of particular conceptions of "good citizenship" that are grounded in distinct although intertwined historicities and also coincide with the current regime's philosophy and agenda of control.

Paper long abstract:

In 2009, in the aftermath of deadly riots, the government of Uganda announced that all out-door radio talk shows, known as People's Parliaments, would be banned. This event informs us on conceptualisations of "good" citizenship in contemporary Uganda. By analysing the way repression against popular speech is justified by a regime whose legitimacy has, precisely, relied on its celebration, this paper explores the imaginary but very operational bifurcated conception of citizenship in force under Museveni, based on a separation between enlightened urbanites entitled to talk about "politics" and "backward peasants" confined to "development". However, these conceptions of compartmentalised and differentiated forms of citizenship were not unilaterally imposed by the regime. They were largely shared and this is particularly visible in radio shows that openly aim at reforming political behaviours. Indeed, by organising highly formalised debates, orators of Kampala's People's Parliaments aimed at producing a honourable form of citizenship, as opposed to the degenerate citizenship of uneducated "tribalised" bakopi (common men) and emotional women. They desperately wanted to demonstrate that they were "good citizens", but were not acknowledged as such by the regime. In a similar way, by creating highly bureaucratised "listeners' forums", the "concerned citizens" of the remote and vilified sub-county of Bufunjo aimed at demonstrating their modernity and the fact that they deserved the benefits of political patronage. The paper will show how these conceptions of good citizenship are entrenched in several intertwined historicities: Buganda royalism; international development; colonial education policies; and Museveni's philosophy of the Movement democracy.