Democracy in Africa: Overcoming Election Violence Challenges

Hooliganism is gradually lifting its ugly head in African elections. Post- election violence in some regions of the continent does not augur well for Africa’s march towards democratic consolidation. Who would have thought that Kenya, regarded as a paragon and oasis of peace and political stability in an otherwise volatile region in East Africa, would abruptly disintegrate into violence in 2007. The recent post-election violence in Mozambique is a case in point, where hundreds of innocent civilians were killed. It is becoming apparent that a little bit of political buffoonery is all that is needed to incite violence and killings on an already politically fragile continent.

The tenets of democracy: tolerance, power sharing, rule of law, critical thinking, decision making and empowerment are lacking in many nations on the continent. Elections have become a do or die event. There is a high premium placed on control of the state, which is the most easily accessible source of wealth accumulation and power. As a direct consequence, political parties and their profligate leaders will do anything to gain absolute control of the government. Politics has become a “rent-seeking behavior” where groups or individual actors accumulate wealth by manipulating the political environment.

One of the major reasons why violence and announcement of election results are not mutually exclusive, is that during the lead up to the elections, political parties are so engrossed in launching vitriolic attacks on each other that they have no time to sit down and decide on a mechanism to govern the running of the elections. Solving problems on an ad-hoc basis will lead the continent nowhere.

The recently ended intense presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana offer hope for the continent. The elections in Ghana were given a clean bill of health by both domestic and international observers, notwithstanding a few skirmishes. The main opposition political party overwhelmingly wrestled power from the ruling party in a largely peaceful and orderly manner. Both candidates accepted the results and committed themselves to building a better country, which resulted in a very peaceful transfer of political power. Ghana has once again taken front and center on the African political landscape and, living up to its indubitable democratic reputation, delivered a true democratic tour de force. Countries should institute mechanisms, whereby those who win elections will be magnanimous and those who lose will do so graciously, confident in the fact that the elections had been conducted in a free, fair and credible manner.