Good governance in sub-Saharan Africa: Recipe for poverty reduction and development (3)

Introduction

In last week’s piece, we examined the following themes: the link between corruption, governance and economic growth; corruption as the enemy of good governance; and the new face of corruption in Africa. This week, we shall continue from that same theme, focusing on the following prisms: centralized state take-over; the cult of personality complex; and, finally, fairness in and respect for the rules of engagement. Enjoy.

Corruption: The enemy of good governance (continues)

The men and women who have been responsible for the economic rape of entire nations continue their plunder with impunity. Even when toppled from power, they have no difficulty taking refuge elsewhere where they come under the protection of the laws of the host State. These “undesirable refugees”, to use Professor Falk’s apt description, have gone unpunished because the constraints of the state system and the lack of appropriate municipal law, substantive as well as procedural, have frustrated efforts to recover spoliated wealth. Against this backdrop and given the calibre of people involved in the economic plunder of their countries, one wonders whether any good governance movement can succeed in bringing these economic pirates under some kind of legal discipline. 

Paradoxically, no serious program of political liberalization can be pronounced successful which does not rein in this practice. It is in the anticipation of this quagmire that this author had earlier raised the question whether Africa’s political leadership can be counted on to implement necessary institutional reforms required of good governance.

Good governance is, in short, anti-corruption whereby authority and its institutions are accountable, effective and efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive and equitable. Governments should ensure a comprehensive and credible budget exists, linked to sectoral priorities and policies, for a consistent and efficient management of resources. In promoting good governance, it is vital to tackle the abuse of power. The views of all oppressed groups, including women, youth and poor, must be heard & considered by governing bodies because they will be most negatively affected if good governance is not achieved.

B. An unwieldy centralized state takeover

Governance and democratization as political conditionality presume the Jeffersonian model of the State which is premised on the belief that the best government is that which governs the least.  The Jeffersonian model reposes its faith in small government which brings decision-making closer to the people and in turn involves them actively and meaningfully in their self-governance. The small decentralized state model favoured by the governance movement must now contend with the Juggernaut state model that became the paradigm for post-colonial Africa. A model in which political power is monopolized at the centre and where the ubiquity of, for instance, Yaoundé in every aspect of national life is felt. (Ndiva Kofele-Kale: Good Governance and Political Conditionality, supra).

Cameroon as an example:

Let us pause for a moment and reflect on this reality: over 70 per cent of Cameroonians live a world away from the political intrigues and power struggles that go on in Yaoundé. They are in the main preoccupied with their daily lives and basic economic survival. When they meet in the evenings in their matango houses or in beer parlours to reflect on the issues of governance, they do not dwell much on such constitutional niceties as the virtues of federalism over centralized presidential government.

What they talk about is how to get bureaucrats in Yaoundé to let them organize their lives in ways that are most appropriate, meaningful and efficacious for their circumstances. For its proponents though, centralization has always been justified on the ground that only through it can national integration be achieved. The reality, however, is that after three decades of a centralized government, Cameroon is no more integrated than it was in 1961. The ethnic flare-ups that occur with increasing frequency nationwide and the now almost permanent Anglophone/Francophone schism all attest to deep social cleavages in the body politic and serve as convincing evidence that centralization has succeeded only in exacerbating these social tensions rather than defusing them.

C. The cult of personality complex:

Good governance and democratization are fostered by a government of institutions as opposed to one organized around personalities, especially around the so-called strongmen of Africa (the likes of the Eyademas, Abachas, the Arap Moi, the Omar Bongos, the Paul Biyas, etc.) And here a word of caution. Africans should be especially wary of Western social scientists who have embarked on a worldwide search for messiahs, like the fictional Indiana Jones on a quest for the Holy Grail! These pundits have demonstrated a penchant for heaping effusive adulation on this type of African leaders and Africans like obedient pupils follow suit (interestingly, in their own countries they would think twice before reposing political responsibility on  such individuals). Such is the nature of underdevelopment that Africans feel vindicated whenever their choices are dictated or validated externally.

With the qualified exception of the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in Tanzania and now Nelson Mandela in South Africa, no such leader in post-colonial Africa has succeeded in transferring the enormous appeal of charisma into self-sustaining institutions designed to outlive their creators. Regrettably, there has been no African George Washington or Thomas Jefferson (Nelson Mandela comes closest), who would elect to forego a life presidency, freely given by his compatriots, in order to strengthen the institution of the presidency for succeeding generations. Rather, all that black Africa has managed to grow is a surfeit of leaders who have used their office to create clientelist and patronage networks to cater to the predatory needs of their families, closest associates, clans, tribes and then the rest of us, in that order.

From the Good Governance perspective, the conclusion is inescapable that these super-human beings have been disastrous for Africa’s overall development. The enormous energies and resources needed to sustain the elaborate myths spun around them could and should be put to better use. Further perpetuation of this hero-worship pathology will almost certainly result in the total breakdown of this continent’s tottering infrastructure, paving the way for a second wave of European colonization in the not-too-distant future. 

The antidote to the cult of personality is a commitment to institution-building for institutions always outlive humans. The Fondoms, Fiefdoms and Chiefdoms of Cameroon will survive long after their present temporary occupants have passed on to the life beyond. That is the beauty of institutions; their self-sustaining power. Advocates of good governance should, therefore, be concerned about strengthening Africa’s nascent democratic institutions and adding more to the stable while insisting on institutional checks on human excesses. Madison observed some two centuries ago “[i]f men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Federalist Papers”, 51: 1778 A.D).

Therefore, in framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, Madison advised that “auxiliary precautions” would be necessary to ensure that the government can control itself (See Federalist No. 51. See also Federalist No. 48). 

Madison like the other Founding Fathers of the new American Republic saw in constitutional separation of powers, with their built-in checks and balances, as the natural defence to tyranny. Two hundred years and more of the history of the United States of America–the first new nation to break  away  from government by hereditary monarchy– vindicates its founding fathers for placing their faith and trust  in a government driven by institutions as opposed to one held hostage by the ambitions of a few men (Ndiva Kofele Kale, supra).

D. Fairness in and respect for the rules of ‘engagement’

Finally, notions of procedural fairness as opposed to desired outcome are an essential part of democratic discourse, bringing me to a brief and final comment on the relationship between governance, election and African reality.

We refer here to the absence of fairness and the lack of respect for the process by which the rules of the game are forged; but also for the rules upon which agreement has been reached. This climate of disrespect for rules engulfs whole societies but it is particularly pertinent in the governance context because it implicates the political class. Among them obligations freely entered into in arms length political bargaining are hardly ever respected; agreements signed and sealed are honoured more in the breach; good faith is devalued in political discourse and outcomes are preferred to process. It is in this context that one can begin to understand Africa’s track record of unenforced laws, of failed elections and stolen electoral victories.

Thought for the week

“the biggest determinant in our lives is culture, where we are born, what the environment looks like. But the second biggest determinant is probably governance, good governance or a certain kind of governance makes a huge difference in our lives”.

– Nicolas Berggruen