The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on political dynamics, as it did on other aspects of human life. The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 almost brought the world to a standstill. This was mainly due to pandemic mitigation measures put in place, including social distancing. These actions greatly affected all levels of human interaction – […]
Periodic, free, fair, and credible elections are one of the undisputed principles
of liberal democracy. Kenya embraced multiparty democracy at independence
in 1963 and has since used periodic elections as a means of selecting leaders to
office. Focusing on Kenya’s national election held on 8 August 2017, this paper
evaluates the fundamental requirements for a free, fair, and credible election. To
this end, the paper assesses Kenya’s electoral legal framework and its application
during the 2017 national elections. In addition, the paper uses primary data by
Afrobarometer to explore public opinion on the performance of the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), political parties, and the media
towards free, fair, and credible elections. This study finds that despite some
institutional challenges, Kenya’s 2017 national elections were conducted
under a comprehensive electoral legal framework and met the threshold of free,
fair, and credible as affirmed by the citizenry through Afrobarometer’s public
opinion survey. The positive assessment of universally accepted electoral practice
indicators by most of the people affirms that, notable challenges notwithstanding,
Kenya’s 2017 national elections were free, fair, and credible, thus endorsing the
legitimacy and authority of elected leaders. This argument is cognisant of the
election outcome as a fundamental factor in shaping public perception of freeness
and fairness in the electoral process.
This paper discusses Zambia’s 2021 election which was held in a context
of democratic backsliding and poor economic performance. The election
resulted in Zambia’s third alternation of power between political parties
since the democratic wave of the 1990s. The ruling Patriotic Front (PF)
used its incumbent advantages to control institutions that were crucial for
promoting democracy and ensuring a credible election. The election was also
characterised by political violence which limited the ability for the opposition
United Party for National Development (UPND) to mobilise freely. Further,
an Afrobarometer survey conducted in December 2020 showed that half of all
citizens surveyed were unwilling to declare who they would vote for, thereby
suppressing the extent of UPND’s support. Yet, the UPND won 59% in the
presidential election and won the most parliamentary seats in an election that
had one of the highest voter-turnouts since the advent of Zambia’s multi-party
democracy. This paper argues that there was a ‘silent revolution’ in Zambia
that resulted in the defeat of the PF. It also shows that Zambian citizens have
not been complacent in the face of democratic backsliding
The paper interrogates the prospect of attaining sustainable democracy in
Africa using biometric technology (BT) for elections. Technology has become
relevant in virtually every aspect of human endeavour, including election
management and democratic development. In Africa, BT has also been
deployed to improve the quality of elections and democracy. Using document
analysis and review of relevant literature, findings indicate that to a large
extent, BT is charting the path for sustainable democracy in Africa. However,
the deployment of BT for African elections still faces serious challenges such
as its high cost, inability to address some forms of electoral fraud, and lack
of technical know-how. The paper concludes that the cultivation of political
will to improve the quality of elections is important in order to address the
current challenges of using BT in African elections and increase the prospect
of attaining sustainable democracy.
Broken campaign promises challenge the sanctity of the electoral process in Nigeria. Six decades after political independence and six electoral cycles in the last two decades of the Fourth Republic, there are inadequate legal frameworks and a lack of political will to change the narrative. Ambushing the voters with plans of action on the eve […]
L’Afrique du Sud a réalisé des progrès considérables depuis 1994 dans l’institutionnalisation et la consolidation de la qualité de sa démocratie. Cependant, des problèmes graves et persistants de gouvernance et des problèmes socio-économiques ont provoqué la colère et la frustration de la population et motivé une augmentation des actions de protestation par le biais de canaux conventionnels et moins conventionnels. La possibilité pour les citoyens de participer au processus politique est essentielle pour une démocratie saine. Il est donc important que des procédures et des mécanismes appropriés soient en place. lieu pour faciliter cette participation. En utilisant la méthodologie de la qualité de la démocratie, le document aborde plusieurs questions importantes, à savoir : dans quelle mesure les opportunités de participation conventionnelle sont-elles développées en Afrique du Sud, et dans quelle mesure sont-elles exploitées ? et quelles formes non conventionnelles de participation existent et quelle est la réponse du gouvernement ? En abordant ces questions, cet article explore le lien entre citoyenneté active et participation politique.
au cours des 25 dernières années en vue de vérifier la qualité de la participation politique de l’Afrique du Sud.
Since the advent of multi-party elections in 1992, Ghana has successfully held six free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, including the peaceful alternation of power on three occasions. Despite this impressive record, transparent and peaceful elections are never a guaranteed outcome in Ghana. General elections in the country are highly competitive and tightly contested […]
Democratic elections in Africa have drawn significant international interest because of their tendencies to generate conflict and violence. Unfortunately, this is not likely to change in the near future, especially with the prevalence of one-party dominance, electoral malpractices, patrimonial leadership and election violence in a number of African countries. Against this background the paper carries […]
Ghana is now seen as a thriving African democracy after having gone through seven presidential and parliamentary elections, resulting in three overturns of political power in 2001, 2009 and 2017. The 2016 election was another crossroad for Ghana’s maturing democracy. In this election, the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost to the opposition New Patriotic […]
The subject of the election process has been analysed by different scholars in different historical periods. On the African continent this subject gained prominence after the Second World War when most African countries gained independence from colonial powers. This interest is because of the assumption that both electoral processes and elections are indicators of a […]
