Challenges to Democratic Development in Africa
Introduction
The political life in Africa has largely been characterized by poor governance and an inherently poor democratic record. This has in most cases led to not only political disillusionment, but also despair – effectively stifling the continent’s economic advancement. In effect, the challenges facing the continent as far as democratic development is concerned stem from political misrule coupled with the adverse effects of imposed westernization, as well as globalization and resource exploitation. As a consequence, the continent continues to suffer demobilization on the political front which has effectively led to economic decapitation. Millions of the continent’s inhabitants continue to be afflicted by disease and poverty, and illiteracy levels continue to be high in most countries. This text assesses and evaluates challenges to democratic development in Africa in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Democracy, as per its dictionary definition, has got to do with the system of government where people have the capability to exercise power (directly or indirectly) by way of freely participating in various civic and political processes. In a democratic society, people are governed by the rule of law and self-determination is not stifled. Some of the key pillars of democracy include, but they are not limited to, equality and liberty. In that regard, therefore, democratic development has got to do with the evaluative procedure in relation to not only the political, but also the institutional as well as social factors that either promote or impede the progress of democracy.[footnoteRef:1] [1: Guntram H. Herb and David H. Kaplan eds., Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview (California: ABC-CLIO, 2008), 1137. ]
Discussion
For a long time, the politics of individual nations in the continent have been dominated by repressive regimes and authoritarian leaders. The said leaders have continuously sought to extend their terms in office by, amongst other things, maintaining an iron grip on power and influencing the course of domestic politics. Today, the continent still has leaders who have been in power for a period of more than 20 years. These include, but they are not limited to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda and Paul Biya of Cameroon, who have served for a period of 31 years and 35 years respectively[footnoteRef:2]. The recently deposed leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe had been in power for 37 years until his forceful removal from office in 2017. DRC has had its share of long-serving leaders who managed to stay in power despite the lack of political goodwill from the citizenry. In an attempt to enhance his grip on power, Mobutu for instance sought to become Zaire’s national identity physical embodiment.[footnoteRef:3] In this case he attempted to create a nation state that was intertwined with his larger than life image. In basic terms, “this aspect of the imagined national identity allowed the regime to suppress other political parties and engage in repressive practices.”[footnoteRef:4] The problem is further complicated by the winner-takes-all approach to political competition. As a result of the consolidation of power around the presidency, those in the opposing camps are always almost certain of exclusion as far as the sharing of the ‘national cake’ is concerned. For this reason, the government of the day has the incentive to stay in power and aggressively suppress any dissent. Like in most African countries, DRC has for the last few decades had authoritarian governments determined to maintain control over the country’s political systems. As a matter of fact, since 1960, the year...
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