At the end of Africa’s most indelibly tortuous period in history, the colonial period that followed was meticulously tailored to politically, socially, morally, ethically and economically brainwash the continent and its people into believing that we are poor and needed adult supervision by our slave masters to wean us from the perils of the Dark Continent. We were conditioned to believe in our inabilities and incapacities to rule and lead ourselves than the reverse. Is it any wonder that when freedom came, it was never voluntarily given by our oppressors, but only after our forbearers demanded it? African independence was gift -wrapped in fully dyed -in -the wool foreign interests. Every African nation’s independence and democracy were calibrated along the litmus tests and yardsticks of foreign interests. In other words, our democracies are only democratic if they fall in line with the interests of our colonial masters.
Has Democracy been good for Africa?
Has the concept of “government of the people, by the people and for the people”, in its truest sense of the word been good for Africa as a whole? As a major ingredient of the independence drive, the promise of democracy was a good sweetener. It did not only generate the euphoria of self-governance, but also created the illusion of emancipation and self-worth. Democracy and independence were supposed to, hand in hand be the aphrodisiac for decolonizing the mind and injecting a significant overdose of black consciousness. Did it?
Despite its relative success in Africa, it is very easy to conclude that this article is a democracy bashing sing along. However, a cursory look at the political landscape of Africa makes it increasingly difficult to calibrate an overall positive report card about democracy in Africa. Has Africa been independent since independence? How democratic have African countries and their leaders been since the introduction and attempted inculcations of democratic principles? What are the common denominators between democracy practised in Africa and the concept of democracy as we know it?
For example, the unenviable record of breeding the longest serving Homo sapiens of political leadership in the world, leaders like Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea- 45 years), Paul Biya (Cameroon-42 years), Denis Sassou Nguesso (Republic of Congo-40 years), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda-38 years) and Isaias Afwerki (Eritrea-31 years) should have qualified as edifices of UNESCO World Heritage . As protected species, they even have the audacity to claim democratic status for the respective governments they lead. Do their unending cycles of elections reflect the ACTUAL desires, aspirations and choices of the majority? Can any of these leaders honestly say that their longevities are down to the democratic wishes and aspirations of their subjects?
Has Democracy failed Africa?
Can democracy succeed without accountability? No amount of democracy would succeed without accountability. Democracy is not perfect but in the most successful democracies across the world, the constitution and accountability have served as guardrails against the potential risks of abuse of democracy. The overarching role of national constitutions must be seen and used as the highest tenet of the land, where no one is above the law. When African countries profess to be democratic, are our leaders above the law and are they held accountable for their actions or inactions in office? Are they answerable to anyone, irrespective of their positions on the political Richter scale, other than themselves? If the constitution is supreme and no one is above the law, how many African countries can say that the President is subject to the same laws of the land as Santigie on the street? Political actions are the essence and corner stones of the highest responsibility of any citizen; to put the public good ahead of personal gain. How can African countries protect, promote, defend, and sustain democracy if the guardrails of accountability are missing? In the absence of accountability, the concept of democracy will remain a fleeting illusion, which will be pursued but never attained. Now you wonder, why everywhere is war?
America always prided itself as the Chief Rabbi of democracy and democratic principles in the land of the free. Founded and built on the sand dunes of freedom, freedom of speech and equality, D. J Trump’s Second Advent is presiding over America’s self-abdication as the High Priest of Democracy and the free world. As America relinquishes the baton of world leadership To Whom It May Concern, and as it dismantles brick by brick, the very bedrock and foundations on which its democracy was built, is it saying that the world does not need democracy to succeed? Does the slow but inevitable erosion of ACCOUNTABILITY in America mean that the pragmatics of extreme capitalism have triumphed over the principles of democracy, the antagonistic version?
Has democracy failed in Africa?
The death of slavery gave birth to colonial rule in Africa. The continent was breast fed on the diet of dependence, that Africa and Africans were poor. The internecine wars that followed saw the proliferation of “well-meaning” agencies life Oxfam, Save the Children, USAID, UN World Food Programme, etc. which became the Trojan horses to rubber stamp the continent’s poverty tag. But if Africa was poor and if for example, the first diamond in Sierra Leone was found in Futingaya-Kono district in 1930, how come SLST, Sierra Rutile, DELCO-Marampa Mines, NDMC, etc. failed to wean Sierra Leone off the poverty shackle? Was the educational system tailored to hypnotise the African to believe in his own ineptitude or incapability to independently emancipate himself without adult supervision from the colonial masters? Was that the modus Operandi that was more prominent in French Speaking countries? Is that why the Second Wave of African Independence is taking place in the Franco phone countries?
Is Africa witnessing a Franco-led Renaissance or independence?
With Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Guinea and to some extent Senegal taking a scalpel to their colonial umbilical cords, are these leaders ushering our continent’s very own African Spring? Unlike Senegal which has an enviable record for promoting, preserving and protecting democracy and democratic principles, the other leaders came to power in military camouflages. Senegal is the only country that never experienced military leadership or a coup. Many including myself have a dim view about military leadership, thanks to the notion that military intelligence is a contradiction in itself. However, can we compare Burkina Faso’s military leader Ibrahim Traore’s accomplishments in two years with any of Africa’s DEMOCRATICALLY elected leaders within the same time period?
Some of his accomplishments:
-Reduced the salaries of his ministers and parliamentarians by 30% and increased civil servants pay by 50%.
-Reduced the nation’s local debt and increased the GDP from$18.8bn to $22.1bn.
-With 400 tractors, 239 tillers, 710 motor pumps, agricultural produce like tomato, millet and rice production rose to 360,000, 1.1 million, and 326,000 metric tonnes respectively, twice as much before he took power.
-Increased employment by more than half of previous years.
-Nationalised land ownership and gold processing plants etc.
So, how did Ibrahim Traore do it?
These are just few of his landmark achievements in such a short space of time. He achieved these by firstly injecting a sense of nationhood into his people, the self-belief of “YES, WE CAN”. Burkinabes now believe that they can grow what they eat and eat what they can grow. While others import their basic commodities and staple food like rice, thereby creating a dependency on the scale of life support proportions, Traore rejected loans from the World Bank, Europe and the usual Shylocks. Instead of perambulating the globe with the proverbial begging bowl as an international accessory, he injected a sense of belief in self –reliance, aspiration for self- sufficiency, and a restoration of cultural pride. It will be unquestionably deceitful to suggest that Traore has achieved so much in such a short space of time from thin air.
Traore has had to deal with new partners. Unlike the colonial masters, the relationship is symbiotic and based on mutual respect this time. In the absence of a master-servant relationship, he has however, demonstrated that with a strong dose of patriotism, empathy for one’s people, bravery to confront the exploitative institutions of global and foreign powers, Africa and Africans can break the yoke. He is proof that when leaders prioritize the needs of their people, impossible is nothing and nothing is impossible. To think that he achieved so much in the face of threats from terrorism, coup d’états and the universal effects of the Russia-Ukraine war is a remarkable feat. If any African leader thinks that it is going to be business as usual on the global political platform, they should take a microscope and read Donald J Trump’s Project 2025 handbook. Looks like Traore is already ahead here and pushing for self-dependence.
The Process Vs The result or The Road Vs the Destination.
The late Gaddafi was never democratic, but how many Libyans prefer what they have today, to what they had under him? What happened when Libya swapped democracy for autocracy? Traore did not ascend the throne by “democratic” means but how many Burkinabe’s are complaining? Even in neighbouring Guinea, how many are complaining about Mamady? When you find yourself in a beautiful destination, will it matter if the road was winding, hilly or slippery? I am not advocating the return of or supporting unconstitutional routes to governance, but how many people would swap the military leader Traore for their current democratically elected leaderships across the African continent today? If a swap is not possible, how many would want to borrow him on behalf of their country for just six months? How many African leaders would want to invite him to their country on a week-long state visit? Is democracy the ONLY way for Africa to succeed? Just like the mind, democracy is a beautiful thing, but can democracy succeed without accountability? Is politics becoming a systematic organisation of hatreds? Is Africa suffering from the paradoxical ironies of political theories versus practical politics?
Don’t forget to turn the lights off when you leave the room.
Be the first to comment