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Dear Comrade President: book highlights ANC leader Oliver Tambo’s role in preparing South Africa for democracy

Dear Comrade President: book highlights ANC leader Oliver Tambo’s role in preparing South Africa for democracy

MORE than three decades have passed since the apartheid government in South Africa unbanned the African National Congress (ANC), the country’s leading liberation movement, and released its leader, Nelson Mandela, from prison. This launched four fraught years of negotiations and violence that led to South Africa’s first-ever democratic elections. The book Dear Comrade President: Oliver Tambo and the Foundations of South Africa’s Constitution, by South African historian Andre Odendaal, focuses on a dimension ignored in previous histories and memoirs of this period: the ANC’s constitution-framing process, which would help to shape the future democratic South Africa. Author GAVIN EVANS, Lecturer,…
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Nigeria ticks some boxes as a democracy. Why this hasn’t translated into a better life for most

Nigeria ticks some boxes as a democracy. Why this hasn’t translated into a better life for most

SINCE gaining independence on 1 October 1960, Nigeria has struggled to maintain a democratic government. The election of 1999 offered renewed hope after a series of military coups and periods of generals in uniform running the country. More elections followed over the years. Holding elections is a commonly accepted feature of democracy, along with having an informed electorate and protecting basic human rights. Author ABIODUN FATAI, PHD, Senior Lecturer, Lagos State University My doctoral study explored Nigeria’s (and Senegal’s) progress with consolidating democracy between 1999 and 2012. As a researcher on elections and democratisation, a key question that’s emerged for…
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William Ruto vs Kenya’s media: democracy is at stake

William Ruto vs Kenya’s media: democracy is at stake

GEORGE OGOLA, Reader in Journalism, University of Central Lancashire IT'S a long-standing Kenyan tradition to offer congratulations in paid print and TV messages to an incoming president. The bulk of these messages are put out by government agencies – and county governments in recent years – but also private commercial corporations. This year, however, the newly elected president William Ruto would have none of this. A day before his swearing-in, Ruto made it known that he did not wish to see national or county government money spent on these messages. The Ministry of Devolution said they were expensive and risk…
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Academic freedom and democracy in African countries: the first study to track the connection

Academic freedom and democracy in African countries: the first study to track the connection

THERE is growing interest in the state of academic freedom worldwide. A 1997 Unesco document defines it as the right of scholars to teach, discuss, research, publish, express opinions about systems and participate in academic bodies. Academic freedom is a cornerstone of education and knowledge. Yet there is surprisingly little empirical research on the actual impact of academic freedom. Comparable measurements have also been scarce. It was only in 2020 that a worldwide index of academic freedom was launched by the Varieties of Democracy database, V-Dem, in collaboration with the Scholars at Risk Network. Author LIISA LAAKSO, Senior Researcher, The…
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Diagnoses of doom mask denial about real problems facing South Africa

Diagnoses of doom mask denial about real problems facing South Africa

TO understand South Africa today, we need to recognise that people can focus endlessly on a country’s problems but still live in a state of denial. STEVEN FRIEDMAN, Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg Hand-wringing about problems which are said to spell the doom of South Africa’s negotiated democracy is a well-established custom. It began only months after the first election in which all adults could vote in 1994. It has become louder over the past decade and dominates the national debate, which is the preserve of the minority who enjoy access to media. Right now, violence in the…
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Ghana’s style of democracy has recently shown cracks. Here’s how to fix it

Ghana’s style of democracy has recently shown cracks. Here’s how to fix it

THE sight of soldiers in Ghana’s parliament on January 7, 2021 was a first for the country. What brought the institution to this point – now the subject of an inquiry – was a scuffle between parliamentarians from the governing party and the opposition, over the election of a Speaker and two deputies. In the end, an opposition candidate was – for the first time – elected as Speaker. KADERI NOAGAH BUKARI, Research Fellow, Department of Peace Studies, University of Cape Coast I have studied several conflict and resolution situations in Ghana. And in my view, what happened in parliament…
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Chaos in South Africa points to failures in the project to build a democracy

Chaos in South Africa points to failures in the project to build a democracy

THE spate of violence that’s engulfed South Africa shows that not all citizens have internalised constitutional democracy and the rule of law as the organising principle of the post-apartheid society. MASHUPYE HERBERT MASERUMULE, Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology Various interventions to institutionalise democracy were more focused on policy interventions and institution-building to safeguard it, but not on ensuring that it was embraced by the entirety of society, appreciating it as the basis of its evolution. The violence started in KwaZulu-Natal following the imprisonment of the former president Jacob Zuma to serve a 15-month sentence for contempt of…
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This is not who we are as a people

This is not who we are as a people

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA OVER the past few days and nights, there have been acts of public violence of a kind rarely seen in the history of our democracy. Property has been vandalised and destroyed. Shops have been looted. Law-abiding citizens have been threatened and intimidated. Workers are scared that they may not be able to return to work. People have died. At this hour, there are several families in our country that are in mourning. I speak of the families of Nkosikhona Chiza, Ndumiso Shezi, Khaya Mkhize, Zethembe Ndwandwe, Lindani Bhengu and Lindokuhle Gumede in Gauteng. I speak of the families…
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EXPLAINER-Why protests are shaking one of Africa’s most stable democracies

EXPLAINER-Why protests are shaking one of Africa’s most stable democracies

EDWARD McALLISTER CLASHES between police and thousands of demonstrators protesting at the detention of Senegal's most prominent opposition leader have killed at least five people since last week. Ousmane Sonko was indicted and released on bail under judicial supervision on Monday but an opposition coalition has called for three days of protests from Monday. The unrest is the worst in a decade in Senegal, widely seen as one of West Africa's most stable democracies. Following is a look at what is driving the unrest. ACCUSATIONS OF POLITICAL INTERFERENCE The demonstrations were ignited by Sonko's arrest last week, after an employee…
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“The media plays a significant role in nurturing and sustaining a culture of democracy”

“The media plays a significant role in nurturing and sustaining a culture of democracy”

JAMESINA E KING THE African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is considered as an arm of the African Union, founded in 2003 to promote good governance on the continent. Its process provides a platform for experience sharing, reinforcing best practices and building a bridge between citizens and governments. Our core mandate is to conduct country reviews to assess how member states are performing in the four main governance aspects known as APRM Thematic areas; namely democracy and political governance; economic governance and management; corporate governance; and socio-economic development. Therefore, as APRM, we recognize that the media plays a significant role in…
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