In July 1970, Uganda’s President Milton Obote published—under his own name—a plan for a new system of single-party elections. ‘Document Number Five’, as it was called, offered a radical solution to a profound problem. Africa’s nationalist politicians had committed themselves to adult suffrage and the secret ballot as an affirmation of the existence of the nation. Yet they feared that an untutored public, encouraged by unscrupulous politicians, would make the wrong electoral choices. Obote’s complex electoral plan was designed to enforce a national approach to campaigning. Yet, more than that, Document Number Five itself was imagined as the focus for a public political discussion that would educate and enlighten the public and discipline political opportunists. Uganda’s English-language media—dominated by a relatively small group, whose educational privilege had brought them to positions of power—became the forum for this discussion. It was a constrained discussion, conducted in the shadow of intimidation, but it was neither predictable nor entirely scripted. Those who wrote and spoke had a wary eye on their personal safety and their careers, but they also had a sense of themselves as intellectuals, whose words mattered to themselves and to others. While the planned elections never took place—forestalled by Idi Amin’s coup—those who spoke and wrote about Document Number Five affirmed the sense of those involved that politics was fundamentally tutelary and that it was their right, and duty, to guide those who were less educated.

中文翻译：

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文件五：1967-1971 年乌干达的选举和监护政治

1970 年 7 月，乌干达总统米尔顿·奥博特以自己的名义公布了一项新的一党选举制度的计划。所谓的“第五号文件”为一个深刻的问题提供了根本性的解决方案。非洲的民族主义政治家致力于成人选举权和无记名投票，以确认国家的存在。然而他们担心，未经教育的公众在无良政客的怂恿下会做出错误的选举选择。奥博特复杂的选举计划旨在实施全国性的竞选活动。然而，更重要的是，五号文件本身被想象为公共政治讨论的焦点，以教育和启发公众并约束政治机会主义者。乌干达的英语媒体——由相对较小的群体主导，他们的教育特权使他们登上了权力岗位——成为了这场讨论的论坛。这是一次有限制的讨论，在恐吓的阴影下进行，但它既不可预测，也不完全是照本宣科。那些写作和演讲的人对自己的个人安全和职业生涯保持警惕，但他们也有一种自己作为知识分子的感觉，他们的言论对自己和他人都很重要。虽然计划中的选举因伊迪·阿明的政变而被阻止，但那些谈论和撰写第五号文件的人确认了参与其中的人的感觉，即政治从根本上来说是监护性的，指导那些地位较低的人是他们的权利和义务。受过教育。这是在恐吓的阴影下进行的，但它既不可预测，也不完全是照本宣科。那些写作和演讲的人对自己的个人安全和职业生涯保持警惕，但他们也有一种自己作为知识分子的感觉，他们的言论对自己和他人都很重要。虽然计划中的选举因伊迪·阿明的政变而被阻止，但那些谈论和撰写第五号文件的人确认了参与其中的人的感觉，即政治从根本上来说是监护性的，指导那些地位较低的人是他们的权利和义务。受过教育。这是在恐吓的阴影下进行的，但它既不可预测，也不完全是照本宣科。那些写作和演讲的人对自己的个人安全和职业生涯保持警惕，但他们也有一种自己作为知识分子的感觉，他们的言论对自己和他人都很重要。虽然计划中的选举因伊迪·阿明的政变而被阻止，但那些谈论和撰写第五号文件的人确认了参与其中的人的感觉，即政治从根本上来说是监护性的，指导那些地位较低的人是他们的权利和义务。受过教育。