My Turn

Do we need democracy in Africa?

 

Having fought against colonialism, African countries submerged into a notion they felt was an illuminating factor and a new dawn to their way of governance. Self-rule from colonial masters was attained. But some African leaders usurped more power and assumed autocracy as a way of governance.

The irony, however, is that the same colonisers who most of the time were worse than dictators, thought it wise to start ‘schooling’ their former colonies that ‘democracy’ is the way to go to live a ‘better life’. They define that type of government as of people by the people.

Most countries in Africa are now busy grappling with democratic governance. Although many territories on the mother continent adopted democracy, the absurdity of democracy in Africa is that the majority, including ‘democratically elected’ leaders, do not really understand how democracy works.

I can vouch that many received this type of governance for the sake of business and donor aid inflows.

In Africa, democracy is generally equated to the right to vote. This is where an expensive joke cracks out.

The election process that is often confused to personify and signify democracy is routinely compromised by factors such as negative ethnicity, violence, bribery, rigging and illiteracy.

The citizens often disengage from public affairs, complain passively and wait for another election time.

Democracy has proved too expensive to African countries with so many multi-million dollar general elections, by-elections that only yield poverty, greed and political violence against the same people who had spent hours on the queue fighting for a change.

The more Africans go to vote, the more they remain poorer than before. Politicians running for ‘high offices’ often become devilish by turning to villains from heroes. Overnight they turn into gods and goddesses. Once they ascend to power they become inaccessible and most become untouchable.

The certainty of democracy in Africa is that no leader is voted into power because of policies but popularity, ethnicity, wealth and religious affiliation among others. That is why the fruits of pain remain constant. In the West, candidates are voted based on their policies.

It is obvious that the majority of voters in poor countries are poor and they have a short horizon meaning, given a choice between today’s benefit for more benefit in the future they will choose the former.

This is borne by their chronic need for survival to find food, clothing, and shelter. Simply put, money in pocket is highly valued than some good road in the future.

This shows that long-term factors are difficult to be appreciated by a common man in Africa. However, this brings in the weakness that given a choice between money from a bad candidate and promises from a good candidate; a bad candidate will be chosen.

It is for such reasons-that faces are always dried with tears of hope. Consequently, in an ideal democracy the majority wins and the majority of poor voters are poor, and the poor can be bought; here the winner in any election will be the person who has the most money to buy the votes.

In the process, such looseness in luring voters trickles down to cronies who are ready to loot public coffers once in office.

For Africa, democracy is expensive because we still do not have adequate infrastructure and yet the politicians are always on campaign trails as they cannot achieve long-term development goals with limited time in office, mostly five-year terms.

Unnecessary debates, court orders, and demonstrations are costly for a regime to institute huge development project like schools, factories, agricultural schemes, roads, hospitals etc.

The West is already developed in terms of infrastructure and it will be hard for them to understand that the nature of circumstances in most African countries require an authoritarian form of governance. We need leaders who can bring back discipline and sanity to save resources from corruption and vandalism which are becoming a norm.

Considering that most Africans are illiterate; politicians will continue to find it easy in manipulating their thinking and make them not see the needed future, yes that of fully developed schools, road infrastructure with fellow citizens ready and eager to serve and not swerve the little and scarce public funds.

 

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One Comment

  1. Mkulu uyu amadziwa kulemba, straight to the point. All the articles I have read by him are very rich. Brains from Harvard School of Arts and Sciences. Inu ku America kunakupindulirani!!!

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