Rekindling embers: Significance, impending elections, democracy in Africa

We are all aware of the upcoming general elections in December.

At times like this, trepidation, tension and anxiety grip everyone.

This notwithstanding, we are going to repeat what has characterised us as one of the most stable democracies on the continent.

For a long time since independence to a point, this routine of electing leaders eluded many African countries. After winning political freedom from the colonisers, the trend shifted to fighting dictatorial rule by African despotic leaders.

From the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, only one Sub-Saharan African government was peacefully voted out of office. Thankfully, the end of the Cold War brought in its wake the flourishing of multi-party democracy across the continent.

Now in almost all countries, elections are taking place regularly giving voters real opportunity to make choices on whom to rule them.

Cause of concern

Many observers are happy with the speed and intensity by which democracy is spreading on the continent. However, recent developments raise concerns about the sustainability of the democratic gains.

Within a short space of time, three military coups took place in succession in West Africa.

Elsewhere, a reverse of the gains in democracy is taking on different forms. In Central Africa for example we have witnessed incumbent leaders changing or sidestepping constitutional term limits to extend their time in office, often provoking unrest.

Most of the time, governments seem like pseudo-democracies, by which the incumbent demonises and harasses the opposition, gags the media and exploits the power of the state to skew the electoral contest in its favour and to remove constraints on its power.

Freedom House, an American think tank, reckons that in 1973, only about 30 per cent of Sub-Saharan African countries were “free” or “partly free.” In its later report, the share stood at 59 per cent.

Obviously that was a big improvement, but it was down from 71 per cent in 2008. Countries that are not free still outnumber those that are, in between are flawed and fragile states that are only partly free.

Optimism

The flame of democracy blazing on the continent since the end of the Cold War seemed to be doused by these negative developments. Fortunately, the embers are still glowing, as some countries still jealously guard their democratic credential.

Ghana has always linked its destiny to that of the entire continent, as exemplified by the statement from its first leader Kwame Nkrumah, “Independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of the African continent.”

Previous elections had already taken place in Senegal and South Africa this year. Now the baton is in our hands as we head to the December 7 Elections. The call to rekindle the fire of democracy on the continent is clearer than ever before. It needs a collective effort to respond to that call.

The upcoming December election is a good opportunity to prove to the world that the flame of democracy is still burning in Ghana. We have what it takes to make this assurance a reality.

By doing our part, we re-enforce our role through this election as significant player in the affairs of the continent, fanning the embers of democracy into flames to illuminate our path toward progress and development for the entire continent.

The writer is with the Institute of Current Affairs and Diplomacy (ICAD).
E-mail: Lawmat2014@gmail.com