From Juliana Taiwo Obalonye, Abuja
Former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has raised the alarm that democracy in Africa is dogged by many challenges including resurgence of coup d’état, citizen disenchantment, rising insecurity and tough economic situations.
In the face of increasing military coups on the continent, especially in West Africa, he noted that inclusivity and good governance are what the people need to convince them that civilian administrations are better than military governments.
Jonathan, who spoke at the Second Annual Retreat of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Special Envoys, High Representatives organised by International IDEA in Abuja, yesterday, also urged leaders to work for the interest of all and avoid actions that could further divide the people and polarise their nations.
The retreat is in response to the resurgent military coups in parts of Africa.
According to him, democracy would serve the people better if African leaders at all levels respect the laws of their nations.
“In Africa democracy is currently facing many challenges including resurgence of coup d’état, citizen disenchantment, rising insecurity and tough economic situations for which special panels like this one is expected to interrogate and proffer solutions.
“I have always said that there is a strong connection between democracy and development, hence the need to deepen democracy, make it more inclusive and strengthen the institutions of governance, towards building a stable and prosperous society.”
Dr. Jonathan added that the issue of inclusivity is a key part of the discussions for improving the convergence principle mentioned in ECOWAS Protocol on democracy and good governance.
He charged the participants at the two-day high level retreat to come up with “concrete and actionable recommendations to respond in a sustainable and inclusive manner to these complex situations.”
Jonathan, who is also the Special Envoy for ECOWAS, stressed the need for concrete and actionable recommendations to respond in a sustainable and inclusive manner to the complex situations on the continent.
In his opening remarks, Secretary General of International IDEA, Kevin Casas-Zamora, explained that IDEA is an intergovernmental organization with 34-member states from all over the world, including eight African countries. It has an exclusive mandate to support, advance and protect democracy worldwide.
He stated that for 28 years now, International IDEA has developed expertise on issues related to constitution building, elections, political participation and representation, gender and inclusion, and, more recently, the assessment of democratic performance.
Casas-Zamora said one of International IDEA’s core areas of work is assessing how democracy is faring around the world.
He highlighted some findings in the Global State of Democracy Report which assesses democratic performance in 173 countries based on a comprehensive set of quantitative and qualitative indicators, the latest of which will be launched on 2 November, 2023.
Netherlands’ ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, William Plomp, noted that many African countries, particularly in the Sahel, Central and the Horn of Africa, have been facing a rise in the number of constitutional changes for government, many of which are led by factions of the armed forces.
He expressed the hope that actionable solutions would be proffered at the end of the two-day retreat.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, noted that despite the coupists saying the reason for overthrowing the democratically elected government was insecurity, the situation has grown worse under their watch.
“In all of them whether you are talking about Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the number one reason for these coup d’etats that they did is not so much about bad governance. They talk about insecurity and that is why the whole asymmetric conflict environment should be taken seriously into account when we are talking about this inclusive and participatory governance processes on the continent.
“We have seen that the primary role of the military is to protect the state from insecurity and they accused the civilians of not managing security well. But they come into the office and it becomes worse.
“We have seen it in Burkina Faso, where the elections that retained President Kabore were judged as probably one of the freest on the continent, accepted by all political parties and others.
“At the time just about 35% of Burkina Faso was outside the control of the state. There were about 700,000 internally displaced, two coups later, 60-70% of the territory is outside their control, over two million displaced in Burkina Faso and as the academic year begins, one million children are out of school. So, how do we square the rationale for the coup and the reality on the ground?
“Today, insecurity is worse in Mali. Today, insecurity is worsening in Niger. And those were the number one reasons that they gave for the use of coups in those countries. So that is food for thought.”
Other stakeholders present were representatives of Minister of Foreign Affairs,Yusuf Tuggar; AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns, Amb. Mohamed ibn Chambas, among others.