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• ECOWAS says insecurity has grown worse under military rule
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has noted that democracy in Africa is currently facing many challenges including resurgence of coup d’état, citizen disenchantment, rising insecurity and tough economic situations for which special panels are expected to interrogate and proffer solutions.
He was speaking Tuesday at the the Second Annual Retreat for Special Envoys and High Officials representing Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on Constitutional Transitions and Unconstitutional Changes of Governments, organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in collaboration with Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) and supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands.
The retreat is in response to the resurgent military coups in parts of Africa.
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.
He stated that there was a direct correlation between democracy and development; therefore, in order to create a stable and prosperous society, democracy must be strengthened, expanded, and made more inclusive.
He said: “The issue of inclusivity is not new for us in the ECOWAS region. We started to think about it in 2019 when we explored ways of improving the convergence principle mentioned in the Protocol on democracy and good governance.
“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.
“I do not want to preempt the debates, but for me, a dialogue on inclusivity should explore the process through which RECs and Special Envoys are responding to constitutional transitions and Unconstitutional changes of governments, and the need to strengthen structures for credible elections, peace mediations and good governance.
“Another issue to be explored is the monitoring of these responses to the crisis and their adaptability with the rapid changing context in countries affected due to several reasons including security, climate change and humanitarian challenges.”
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 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.
He explained that the Institute is well known for combining comparative knowledge production with technical assistance on the ground.
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.
“The key finding emanating from the report is one that won’t surprise you: this is a challenging time for democracy globally. In fact, our data shows that this is the sixth consecutive year of democratic deterioration globally, the longest such sequence since our records started in 1975.
“Over two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in non-democratic regimes or in countries where democracy is visibly retreating. Our report documents the considerable pressures faced by democratic governments everywhere: rising populism; declining trust in institutions; runaway polarization; unmet social expectations; pressing environmental challenges; and an increasingly toxic information environment.
“In many places, democracy hangs on by a thread. Often, it is surviving only thanks to a diverse set of countervailing institutions. These include not just the traditional checks and balances of democratic governance, like parliaments and judges—but also other increasingly important actors like human rights commissioners, independent oversight bodies, electoral authorities, civil society organizations, credible media outlets, and supranational bodies committed to defending democracy.
“At their best, all these countervailing forces are able to keep executives and other political actors in check, thereby protecting democracy.
“All these complex forces are at play in Africa. We document in our report the visible rise in unconstitutional changes of government, particularly in West Africa; the increase in violence in so many places in the continent, including, in tragical fashion, in Sudan; and the problematic presence everywhere of an increasingly naked geopolitical competition and of widespread dissatisfaction with the workings of democracy.
“Yet, amidst this forbidding landscape, we also identify reasons for hope. We see it in the landmark elections in The Gambia, Zambia, Malawi, and Kenya; and in initial signs of progress in the fight against corruption that our measurements are detecting in many places in the continent for the first time.
“We also see resilient institutions, including electoral management bodies and judiciaries, in places like Kenya and Ghana, bravely standing up for their independence and their ability to carry our their work and safeguard the most fundamental democratic rights.
“Perhaps more importantly, Africa offers Exhibit-A of the single most important story that emerges for our report – the vibrancy of civic engagement as the healthiest element in the workings of democracy. We see this all over the world, but particularly in Africa.
“The top 50 countries in the world in terms of the strength of civic and electoral participation, include 9 African countries, the likes of Sierra Leone, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia and others. We find bastions of civic participation even in countries where other indicators present a dire situation for democracy.
“More than in most places in the world, the energy to renew the democratic project, to make it live to the expectations that are being unmet, lies with citizens and social movements, much more than with politicians and formal representative institutions.
“People in Africa are willing to participate in the public arena, to make their voices heard, and stand up for their rights. Because, in the end, according to figures from Afrobarometer, 70 percent of Africans prefer to live in democracies. They support democracy, even though democracy may not be supporting them.
“The fate of democracy in Africa rides on the ability of political systems to include in decision making thoses voices that want and need to be heard. And that brings me to the second part of my remarks and to the subject matter of our discussion: inclusive constitutional transitions.
“Democracy is many things, but at its heart it is a system to distribute power as widely as possible. Democracy’s inclusive distribution of power, relative to other systems, gives it the greatest potential for good ideas to flourish and the greatest security against bad ones to take root.
“When democracy allows power to be tightly controlled by a small cabal of self-serving elites it squanders one of its crucial assets, and endangers its own future. And this is, let’s be honest, what has become par for the course in democracies all over the world.”
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, on his part noted that there are reasons for some of these coups.
He said despite the coupists saying the reason for overthrowing democratically elected government was insecurity, the situation has grown worse under their watch.
He said: “In all of them whether you are talking about Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the number one reason for these coup d’tats 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 office and it becomes worse.
“We have seen it in Burkina Faso, where the elections that retained President Kabore were adjudged 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 the state, over 2 million displaced in Burkina Faso and as the academic year begin, 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 reason 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.
