As we celebrate Africa Day and reflect on how far the continent has come since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, it’s a good time to assess whether democracy is working.
Protests in South Africa are about more than just service delivery of basic services such as water and electricity. They reflect a wider crisis about the failure to build a more equitable society.
Zambian President Edgar Lungu has been criticised for turning the country into a dictatorship.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
The world’s media, which has in the past found Zambia uninteresting, are suddenly paying more attention to the impoverished nation, for all the wrong reasons.
In Africa a study shows stark differences between perceptions of justice among the rich and poor.
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The proposed change to Malawi’s electoral system is straightforward and makes logical sense. Yet it’s more complex and if adopted would revolutionise local politics.
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is praised by some for his “no nonsense” attitude.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Multiparty democracy came to Tanzania in 1995 but the autocratic rule under the country’s first post-independence leader
Julius Nyerere, seems to be echoed by current President John Magufuli.
Newly-elected Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed,left, and outgoing president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Feisal Omar/Reuters
The Somali election didn’t deliver the long-awaited universal suffrage, but was another exercise in limited democracy that extended only to a small part of the population.
Julius Malema and his fellow opposition EFF MPs being bundled out of parliament for disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s speech.
Sumaya Hisham/Reuters
Opposition parties in sub-Saharan Africa struggle to prove themselves worthy to skeptical voters who, unlike in Western competitive systems, don’t trust them over former liberation movements.
People cheer as Senegalese troops arrive to take charge of security at the presidential palace in Banjul, The Gambia.
EPA/Legnan Koula
The adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance five years ago raised hopes for a new democratic Africa. But its ideals remain elusive for many parts of the continent.
Barack Obama’s high standing in sub-Sahara Africa persisted despite grumbling that he never delivered American largess to the degree many initially expected.
A protest against President Joseph Kabila. The poster reads: “Kabila must leave without any conditions”.
Reuters/Francois Lenoir
Attempts to deepen democracy in Africa by limiting presidential terms to two have not entirely quashed a culture of entitlement to rule. Glimpses of it persist, much against citizens’ wishes.
Members of the Ecowas force at the Denton Bridge check point in Banjul, The Gambia, following Yahya Jammeh’s departure.
Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon
Regional power Ecowas, which has just seen off yet another dictator in Yahya Jammeh, started off with a tame agenda 42 years ago. But it was soon shaped by civil wars, military coups and despots
Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow arriving home.
EPA
Although Ecowas and the AU made sure that Yahya Jammeh stepped down after losing the elections in The Gambia, caution is warranted in assuming this heralds a trend against African dictatorships.
Presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Muhammadu Buhari, Macky Sall and former Ghanian President John Mahama at a special meeting of Ecowas on The Gambia.
Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde
SADC’s credibility is at stake. Its lack of political will in acting decisively against despots is at odds with the African Union’s goal of promoting legitimate governance on the continent.
The Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh is under pressure from regional leaders to cede power.
Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon
The Gambian election dispute is not the first that ECOWAS has confronted. Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010 presidential election is a case in point. There it resorted to military action to enforce the outcome.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma (left), who is also the president of the governing ANC, and his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
After two decades of political dominance, the electoral performance of the ANC is at its lowest since it became the governing party of South Africa in 1994. But is the party really unraveling?
Congressman Ron Dellums of California protests in front of the South African embassy in 1984.
Rick Reinhard
Donald Trump’s disregard for Africa and African affairs is worrying. But it also presents a unique opportunity for progressive black leadership to shape US foreign policy.
Supporters of president-elect Adama Barrow celebrate his victory in Banjul, the Gambia.
Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon
A peaceful transition in the Gambia, taken together with hints of change in Angola and Zimbabwe, will portend hope that Africa’s democratic renewal is still alive.
US President-elect Donald Trump has displayed behaviour that will resonate with autocrats in Africa.
William Philpott/Reuters
Besides worries that Donald Trump might not make Africa a priority of his presidency, his temperament and views bode ill for democracy on the continent.
Demands to recall South African President Jacob Zuma reached a climax at the governing ANC’s national executive meeting.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
There are early signs of the emergence of a third force for good in South Africa in the likes of the Save SA movement and Socio-Economic Future of South Africa convened by the Archbishop of Cape Town.