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The Slide to Despotism By Michael D. Roberts |
The negative spin offs of this state of affairs is a potentially rich continent divided within itself, racked by every manner of local war and civil strife, riddled with poverty and disease, and in a state of national hopelessness as to what exactly the future holds. Taking all these things together and placed against the inability of African governments to fulfill their responsibilities to the citizenry this situation has become systemic. From sub-Saharan Africa to the promise that is South Africa this deterioration of governments has metastasized and developed its particular brand of venom in the process.
The norm in Africa is not civil stability that is the measure of good governance but a situation where citizens from many countries have gone into exile, have been displaced by internecine warfare, or are refugees in adjacent lands seeking temporary shelter until it is that country's turn to boil over. The upshot is that today millions of Africans are nomadic wonderers throughout the continent without homes, facing an uncertain future, and at the mercy of men with heavy weapons at every turn. But this is not the only anomaly. As the degree of despotism, governmental brutality and tribal rivalries escalate the social and political outcomes vary in terms of levels of viciousness meted out to the defenseless populace.
For example, children have been drafted into the military squabbles of adults and are used as gun fodder and forced to carry out acts of brutality on innocent civilians. The Angola and Sierra Leone conflicts are good examples. Young women are also trapped by these "liberation fighters" and sold into prostitution, are raped repeatedly, and subjected to every form of exploitation imaginable without recourse to the law. In fact, members of institutionalized governments see exploitation of women as a fringe benefit of being in office or being close to the halls of political and military power. In fragile nation-states like the Sudan, a large part of that country's population is non-citizens based primarily on race and religion. These people are subjected to all forms of harassment, abuse of civil and human rights, and denied access to basic human commodities by government agencies.
It is my view that a definition of responsible government must include an independent judiciary and legislature, an efficient and disciplined system of social governance and organization that includes the police and army - and the right of the people to criticize, and when necessary, replace the government by legal means. In places like Zimbabwe and Kenya these principles of democracy have long been tossed out of the window to be replaced by distrust by the populace and the gradual and consistent rule by decree of these governments.
When there is scarcely any visible line between the judiciary and the legislature then corruption and a lack of governmental transparency and accountability to the people set in. These are the core foundation elements of the slide to despotism. Accusations of vote rigging, tinkering with constitutions, and rule by intimidation are all over Africa today as politicians become hooked on the president-for-life drug and struggle to remain in office long after the population have rejected them. Madagascar and Tanzania are but two recent cases.
Indeed, too much power is concentrated in the executive branch of government and in the leader of that branch. There are little or no checks or balances that reign in African despots. The commingling of the Legislative and Judicial branches of government a feature of African political development has created a situation where the judicial branch has become the willing tool and malleable rubber stamp of all-powerful despots. Thus, these governments can "legalize" any illegal action as democracy is strangled and civil oppression and governmental sanctioned terrorism ensues. The weakness of the judicial system all over Africa has resulted in a retrogression of the democratic process started two generations ago with African independence.
And even the so-called more developed nation-states of Africa have not escaped the stigma of failed governments and states. Take Nigeria for example. In 1999 the army in angry retaliation to the killing of one of its members butchered and murdered hundreds of unarmed, defenseless people in the Delta Region of the country. Yet, to date there has been no court-martial or governmental inquiry into this human rights tragedy despite calls from many international Non-governmental organizations. The loud silence by ALL African governments to condemn an outrage spoke volumes about African governments' cronyism and view of democracy.
But the icing on the cake came from Nigeria's president himself who defended the actions of his soldiers and claimed that they were just carrying out orders. Such callous, arrogant, and insensitive rhetoric are the danger signals of the omnipotent supreme commander and despot. The failure of President Olusegun Obasanjo to even condemn such acts of lawlessness and violence is a characteristic of a nation-state rapidly sliding towards despotism and anarchy.
For all these countries that are experiencing the varying stages of this slide, the question is not if they end up like Africa's worst basket cases Sudan, Somalia, the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Burundi but how long it will take to get there without serious corrective measures.
Africa's tiny ruling elite continue to grow fat and rich on their ill-gotten gains and stash away millions in indulgent overseas banks that were intended to help the people. And no new fangled organization, no African Union, or any other organization with no muscle or teeth will ensure that this slide towards despotism and political debauchery is arrested.
There has to be a strong political will to arrest this slide before it is too late. Africa's leaders and the elite must put the aspirations of the people first.