Africa’s real problems manifest around the time of elections. Picture that in the last five years, there have been coups or near coups in Guinea, Mali, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Let’s not forget the fragile situation in Northern Nigeria, where the instabilities continue to persist. So, what mus Afdrica do to curb these instabilities?
Many suggest that the real problem with Africa is democracy.
That democracy as envsioned in the West cannot simply work in Africa. But is
this really true? While Japan has managed to change govenrments left right and
center within the last ten years, its stability and general economic prospects
have not been affecetd much. The same could be said about Italy. These
govenrments basically function even when the sitting
Presdient or Prime
Minister is having trouble holding onto office. The same cannot be said about
African countries. Most African countries experience instabilities during the
time of elections, as different tribes literally compete for the top job. In
winning the Presidency then, the various tribal factions are merely hoping that
once their man is in office, then the tribal goodies will flow back to the
ground. So, in a way, eelctions in Africa are very much personalised. Of
course, both the US, EU and India also have the same problem of personalisation
of politics, where the Kennedy, Bush, Clintons appear to gain a significant
advantage even before elctions campaign have started. In India, the name of Gandhi was a direct ticket to the Prime Minister position, until last year when
Narendra Modi dismantled that myth.
Even then, elections in Africa appear to be a time when
clashes are mostly likely to escalate. This shows that how high stakes of a
game elections are. It is also the time when the economic growth rates are most
deemed, as investors adopt a wait and see approach until elections are over.
Some have suggested that the rotational Presidency take route, where different
regions are allowed to ahve a President at different times, much like the UN
rotates the Secretary General position. This would be esecially applicable in
areas where there are many minorities. For example, in Nigeria, analysts
believe that part of the reason for the instabilities is that the gentleman’s
agreement between the North and the South on rotating the Presidency has been
violated, as Goodluck Jonatahan is set to run for a second time. The post
election violence in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, and the genocide in rwanda
all point to a real need to have a dialogue on which form of democracy is best
fit for Africa. By safeguarding elections and democracy, this is the only way
that African countries would be more stable, and in the process, attract mor
einvestors to fuel the Africa rising narrative.
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