Elections are a Threat to Fledgling Democracies in Africa
The
last two decades have been a period of unprecedented democratization processes
in African countries. Whereas various state fragilities abound, certain
countries have been able to develop democratic norms and provide the expertise
to strengthen institutions of democratic governance, at least through constitutional
reforms and regularization of election. Kenya is an example, which in in
2010, was able to attain a democratic milestone through the promulgation of a
progressive constitution. However, amidst the democratic transition, elections
remain an important challenge to democratization in Africa.
Some
commentators have since argued that the incidence of election-related
violence in Africa is so high that even an election considered to be free and
fair in electoral outcome may not have been free of violence before, during or
after the election. For example, in 2007 Conde argued that elections in Africa
are periods during which the stability and security of African states hangs in
the balance, due to the threat of related election violence. According to the
Institute for Security Studies “elections in most African countries are characterized
by uncertainties, due to the possibility of election-related violence.
Election-related violence may take place at different stages of the electoral
process: before, during or after elections.” In circumstances such as this, there is currency and urgency in exploring
challenges to the integrity of electoral processes in democratic transitions in
Africa.
Unless
there is robust engagement in the reformation of electoral process ecosystem,
Africa risks retardation of the democratization process witnessed in the last
two decades. Certainly, the period of optimism that prevailed in the aftermath
of the Cold War, that saw rapid democratic shifts in various parts of the
world, including Africa, is long gone and new challenges are emerging. Africa
is witnessing a situation where violent conflicts, especially related to
elections, are on the rise again, triggering an historic mass movement of
peoples and huge humanitarian crises that challenge the collective conscience
of the people of Africa and beyond.
The
apparent inability of a number of African leaders and institutions of
democratic governance to effectively respond to these threats is worrisome. As
a result the faith that the peoples of the continent had started having in
democracy is fast eroding and many are looking for facile alternatives, such as
those witnessed during the unprecedented Arab spring. However, there are
instances where citizens’ movements in societies as disparate as Burkina Faso which
are making it clear that the democratic aspirations in Africa remain undimmed.
It
is a fact that more countries in Africa, than ever before, are now holding frequent
‘democratic elections.’ But, the question is on whether such elections are
resulting in the trans-formative changes that the people want to see in the
process of governance of their countries. While majority of the people of
Africa have demonstrated their beliefs in democracy as a best-suited political
system to manage their countries changing social and economic conditions, there
is need acknowledge, the clear and
present challenges to democratic ideals and institutions witnessed across the continent.
One
of the challenges is the rapid changes in the world order that is causing rapid
globalization and regional integration. This phenomenon has at once produced
unparalleled economic opportunities and created an impression that
democratically elected governments no longer control the forces that influence
and shape peoples’ lives.
In
the western world we have seen how the sense of alienation and failed
expectations has encouraged the rise of populist movements. Governing in a
globalizing world makes it that much harder for national politicians to fulfill their campaign promises. In other regions, we have seen citizens forsake the
ballot box in favor of the street despite elections that were considered as
reasonably free and fair.
Such
reversals highlight the second challenge. That of failure of elections to
peacefully adjudicate political competition and manage transfers of
power. Elections are at the heart of democracy. When conducted with
integrity, they allow citizens to have a voice in how and by whom they are
governed. But, in Africa, again majority of the people are yet to grasp and appreciate
the power of the vote. Making it is difficult for the vote to translate into a true
power to change and improve representative democracy for the benefit of the
people.
Elections
give citizens dissatisfied with the way they are governed regular opportunities
to hold their leaders to account. But when they lack integrity, citizens’
confidence in governance is reduced, and elections become flash-points for
violence. Sadly, some leaders have come to believe that no matter how they win
an election, it is merely a formality that allows them to continue ruling
however they want.
Well,
evidence is mounting demonstrating that elections without integrity fail to
confer legitimacy on the winners, as we saw in Burundi recently. And
without legitimacy, a government’s rule is likely to be fraught and contested. When elected leaders flout the rule of law or
govern in an exclusionary manner, they can and will be sanctioned by their
peoples with or without an election, as the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood in
Egypt demonstrated, but the danger is replacing such regimes with yet another corrupt
leadership hence repeating the cycle and locking the people in a seemingly unending
clamor for true trans-formative democracy.
The
role of money in politics is a third source of increasing concern as it greatly
skews democracy and undermines the integrity of electoral processes, both in
established and fledgling democracies. Opaque political finance robs democracy
of its promise of political equality. Unregulated or undisclosed campaign
funding enables special interests to usurp the political process; worse, it may
permit organized crime to penetrate the political arena. This problem may well
worsen with growing levels of economic inequality, which we are witnessing in
many societies around the world.
There
is a great danger that extreme wealth will distort the political process and
undermine the basic premise of democracy. Income distribution is not the
normal purview of institutions providing electoral and democracy assistance.
Nonetheless, economic inequality within societies does represent a major
challenge to democracy. Coupled with insufficient controls on political
finance, this inequality creates a sense that large corporations and wealthy
individuals are exercising undue influence over political processes and
outcomes. The result is the phenomenon of bribery (voter buying) that is
rampant across Africa. As a result, social cohesion and political
representation are undermined and with it the belief in democracy itself.
As
countries, like Kenya, where voter bribery is rampant, the major question to
ask as elections draw near is whether indeed elections are am opportunity for
the people to make decisions about the weighty matter on the direction they
wish their country’s leadership to take or a mere event; a routine; another flash-point of violence?
Elections are a Threat to Fledgling Democracies in Africa
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
April 26, 2017
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