It is true that democratic governance can be based on the presence of “free, fair and regular” elections in our societies, but this entails more fundamental factors that should bring positive changes to that society.
By simple definition, democracy is the governance of the people, by the people and for the people; the governance according to the will of the people by respecting and cherishing their values and interests in socio- economic and political developments of the society.
In ancient Greek where democratic rule originates; all citizens were given equal rights to participate in the day to day governance or decision making process of their society.
But in our contemporary world, citizens are given this opportunity by electing their representatives in the governance structure of their society or nation.
This gives the electorates a great challenge of clarifying, careful understanding and analysis of all the different candidates to be elected before the election date.
The electoral commission is also given a task to help facilitate this process and avoid mis-understanding and abuse of electorates’ rights.
Leaders should not be voted based on tribal or ethnic sentiments, but their commitment and responsiveness towards community challenges and prosperity.
Elections therefore provide us with this opportunity to select the best among all candidates to serve our community values and interests.
It is unfortunate that with all the institutional and regulatory structures, citizens are still manipulated by bribes, nepotism, electoral violence (intimidation, threats and propaganda), and all other forms of election mal-practices to choose the wrong leaders! This is usually blamed on rampant poverty and ignorance of the law.
My question to the proponents of this, is what have we done to minimize this factor? Are we committed to true and real democracy for the people or, we just talk about it to impress the west and “promoters of democracy”? In other words, what kind of democracy are we interested in and how do we want it to benefit our population?
We need clear measures to avoid the popular revolts that swept regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and now Libya.
To my surprise, leaders of these states claimed “popular support from their population” before the revolts, and Mubarak won the previous parliamentary election with over 80% votes.
This suddenly changed to the negative and he is now being held accountable for ordering the killing of innocent demonstrators and plundering the country’s resources.
Why should states use forceful violence to clump down critical citizens and demonstrators instead of finding amicable solutions to their grievances? Would this be part of democratic governance that is cherished all-over?
The population should carefully look for leaders who are committed to protect their fundamental rights and properties, socio- economic and cultural values and aspirations, and able with skills to cherish these in the wider arena of the local, national and international sphere.
In our analysis, we should evaluate the incumbents according to their previous promises and what they have fulfilled.
Most leaders in Africa are used to manipulation and propaganda; they abandon their voters immediately after gaining what they want; they kick the ladder and forget they may need that ladder to come down.
But is that what we (the electorates) want from them? How can we make them accountable to us after giving them our support? What do we want to achieve as a community or nation? And who can we trust and or work with to achieve these goals?
I have seen elections in Uganda, Nigeria, Tunisia, etc in this year (2011) and yet to see more in D.R Congo, Mali, Kenya, etc.
If all the above are considered before election, we should expect achievements and prosperity in our communities; improvements in transport, education, health care infrastructures, access to clean water and electricity, and accurate policy formulation and advocacy with the main agenda to champion the nation’s goal.
A genuine leader should be committed to these and not his/her personal or family livelihood; he should think of how he/she benefits the community, and not how the community benefits him/her.
It’s unfortunate that most of our leaders think about themselves and not the people they meant to serve.
To understand this well, we need to further research on the discoveries on them after their departure from power.
I just want us to start with Mobutu Sese seko, Sani Abacha, Gnassingbe Eyadema, Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gadhafi, etc
Mohammed Yusuf is a
Pan Africanist and Researcher
[email protected]
