African states need strong democratic institutions

Solly Rakgomo | Monday October 24, 2022 06:00

"No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. Africa doesn't need strong men, it needs strong institutions”.

The above excerpt describes the socio-political climate prevalent in Africa.

Since the early 1990s when many African states went through the third wave of democratisation characterised by a return to multi-party system, the process of democratisation has been very slow in many parts of the continent.

Eric Palmer in his publication entitled, "Real institutions and really institutions " reminds us that the elements of a functional democracy should include participation of the people either directly or indirectly, independence of the judiciary, separation of powers, the rule of law, the respect for fundamental rights, free and fair elections, multi-party system, freedom of the press, accountability, transparency of government officials, to name a but few.

According to the 2018 democracy index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, based on the following democratic factors: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties, very few countries in Africa with the exception of Mauritius, qualify as full democracies.

According to the index, full democratic countries are nations where civil rights and basic political freedoms are not only respected, but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. Such societies have a sound system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately and diverse and independent media. These types of nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning.

Still using the index, the second tier of democracies following the full democracies are the flawed democracies. African countries listed in this category include South Africa, Botswana and Cape Verde.

The flawed democratic nations are nations where elections are free and peaceful, fundamental civil liberties are honoured, but, there is limited freedom of the press. These nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including an underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics and problems in the functioning of governance.

The third tier of the index is hybrid regimes. Countries such as Nigeria, Benin, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Niger fall under this category. Hybrid regimes are nations where consequential irregularities exist during elections, thereby preventing elections from being free and fair. These nations commonly have governments that apply immense pressure on political opponents, have non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption and constant harassment of the press and an anaemic rule of law.

From this one can safely argue that the Sub Saharan Africa region is categorised as a hybrid regime while North Africa regions are described as authoritarian regimes. Authoritarian regimes are countries where political pluralism has vanished or is extremely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships.

They may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance. Infringements and abuse of civil liberties are commonplace. Elections, if they do take place, are not free and fair, the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and there are omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism. From the analysis provided by the Democracy Index, we see that democracy in Africa is still a long way off the mark. African democracies are currently characterised and threatened mainly by electoral abuse, ethnic divisions, corruption, poor management of natural resources and the collective effects of poverty, apathy and economic insecurity.

In short, the democratic institutions are very weak. Many African states need strong democratic institutions. Institutions are the governmental systems entrusted with making and enforcing the rules of a society, as well as regulating relations with other societies. Democratic institutions are in essence, a set of arrangements for organising political competition, legitimating rulers and implementing rule. Institutions in a democratic government are necessarily the entities that will fulfill the elements of democracy.

Strong institutions are the cornerstone of stable governments. A democracy with strong institutions would be able to produce the essential elements of a fully democratic government through proper separation of powers thereby enabling a system, which allows for checks and balances of the various arms of government. For example, in a presidential system of democracy, it is essential that the judicial, legislative and executive arms of government work hand in hand. Furthermore, these three arms of government must be independent and function separately at all times.

As a matter of fact, the stronger the judiciary and its inability to be influenced by the executive arm, the better the democracy. Having strong institutions in Africa would help to deliver good governance, accountability, transparency and most importantly, the rule of law.

It is so sad that strong men have been ruling Africa since the departure of the colonial masters and individual countries have varied results to show for it. An example of a popular strong man and the effects of his "strength" in ruling a nation would be the former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who strongly held on to power for almost four decades. The aftermath of his dictatorship included gross economic mismanagement leading to the country attaining two world records for hyperinflation.

The regime was further characterised by several human rights violations as well as anti-white racism. Some may argue that there can be no strong institutions without strong men, but the above example shows that strong men are capable of stifling democracy. Rather than strong men, Africa needs visionary leaders. Democratic institutions that would outlast generations can only be built by visionary leaders and not strong men. Africa is where it is today because strong men ruled its weak institutions, allocated unchecked power to themselves and largely depleted its resources.

However, if Africa has leaders who build strong institutions, the democratic system will be strengthened and improve in spite of the weakness or strength of the person in authority. In closing, many African states require capable, reliable and transparent institutions, strong and viable legislature, honest police forces, independent judges, an independent press, a vibrant private sector and a civil society to give life to our democracy.

A quick observation shows that the economic prosperity and obedience to the rule of law that exists in western countries can be attributed to functional strong institutions.

Huguette Labelle, former chair of the board of the anti-corruption outfit – Transparency International, notes that two of the biggest threats to democracy in Africa are poor management of natural resources and electoral abuse. These twin threats, she said, can only be overcome by having strong state institutions, a well-functioning justice system and the rule of law that works for everyone. It is therefore essential that African leaders implement legal instruments and standards that outlast them. Africa also needs leaders that would responsibly develop its resources and focus on poverty reduction.