Democracy in Africa should be defined by Africans   

Democracy in Africa should be defined by Africans   

Democracy viewed in euro-centrism and rooted from western laws, customs shouldn’t be applied in Africa, rather the traditional elements of solidarity, Pan-Africanism, nationalism and unity should be looked on in Africa when accessing what democracy means to Africans.

This was the main observation of the scholars, civil servants, civil society and political analysts on democracy in Africa in the ‘African Democracy Forum’ hosted in Kigali.

Speaking to the African Democracy Forum, Professor Anastase Shyaka, CEO, Rwanda Governance Board, pointed that colonialism has shuttered African continent tangibly and that through neo-colonial with the legacy of the hatred being inculcated in the African systems of the governance in their divide and rule method has left Africa torn apart.

“Political parties born after post-colonialism spread the seeds of the divisionism in the name of the so-called ideological dimensions of the democracy. You harvest what you sow. You cannot expect good results of democracy when you instigated ethnic hatred among the people for instance, Genocide against the Tutsi were related to colonial legacy,” Shyaka says.

“Africa need not borrow the theoretical definition of democracy of the west and discard it on the inter-independence of the mindset of the two unparalleled social dimensions hoping that every good idea could come outside which is not true,” he adds.

“Democracy connected to popular participation, social-economic development, gender equality should be imposed instead of basing on inapplicable rules which contradict to our cultural values and virtues,” he says.

He says, Rwanda before Genocide against the Tutsi political parties were based on the ethnicity and religion. “And this was called democracy,” he adds.  

Dr Sydney Mufamadi, The Director of the Leadership University of Johannesburg, for him, there is progress in African democracy since the days of the colonialism despite that the gaps persist. “We have procedures or norms where we see regular election, executive subjected to oversight being held accountable by parliament.

However, Africa is the continent with the lowest human development. We are the richest poorest continent and we have not fully exploited our wealth besides the fact colonialists exploited us and we would have been better than we are now. he adds.

He cites the recent integration of one market as a landmark that will impact human development index of Africans in the long-run.

“Political democracy alone could mean nothing if there is no economic prosperity,”

Maiga DJingary, Vice-Chancellor, African Democracy Forum, in her perspective inclusive democracy that includes all genders and general stereotypes of the people is what is needed in Africa.

“Thanks to Rwanda’s system where the women are being engaged in the political life of the state,”

She pointed out that democracy should rely on the indigenous culture of the Africans on the grassroots of the homegrown solutions.

“Nevertheless, if we depend on the external knowledge there will be a humiliation that our culture is weak and not rich. There is an urgent need for Africans to base on the home-made democracy,” she adds.

“The west say that democracy can’t fit in our cultural values and that the longevity in office is related to the African cultural leadership of kings in the pre-historic times. Thus, the British prime minister has been in power for so long the similar ruling system which also exists in other European countries like in the Canada, Germany and United Kingdom,” Dr Eric Ndushabandi, Director of the Institute for research and dialogue for peace while contrasting Afrocentrism and Eurocentric view of democracy on Africa.

“These countries have no democratic term limits,” he says.

According to Dr. Andre Mbata Mangu, Founder of the Institute for Democracy, Governance, Peace and Development in Africa for him civil societies should play a big part in the watchdog to the actions of the governments holding them accountable for Africa’s style of the democracy to sustain instead of relying on the government and being foreign agents.

“It is impossible to have democracy without involvement of civil societies, trade unions, think-tanks, universities, media among others that can act as a catalyst for democratic governance,” Mangu adds.

According to the Afro-barometer research study of 2016 indicated that on average across the continent, Africans prefer democratic governance that any kind of leadership.

Challenges

Mangu added that judiciary can play a democratic consolidation yet in some cases judiciary is not independent and that they are subject to the government.  “Judiciary should be committed to the rule of law,” he adds.

He adds the fact that some African leaders being phobic of leaving the power is another challenge to the democratic governance on the continent.

Other challenges highlighted include Africa’s Identity fragmentation seemingly impeding the democratic governance, limitation of the system that cements accountability of the government and limited linkage of the theory and practice of the centrality of the people, the military’s involvement in the governance, untimely constitutional changes in Republic of Gabon 2011, in the Republic of Chad in 2005, the Republic of Cameroon in 2008, the Republic of Congo Brazzaville in 2015 and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011 with the sole objective of maintaining power without democratic alternation, to name but a few of the issues present on the continent.

Francis Seruhanga Byaruhanga is a Journalist and a Lawyer based in Kigali.

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