A section of scholars and researchers have said it’s time for Africa’s democracy to be tailored to suit the continent’s peculiarities.
During a conference at Serena Lake Victoria hotel in Wakiso district last week, participants from ten countries said the Western model of democracy was not working because many African states are so diverse.
The meeting was organized by the Social Science Retrench Council (SSRC), African Peace-building Network (APN) and Makerere University. It drew participants from Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa.
“Policymakers in Africa should consider the African context; they can design a rotational kind of democracy so that one region doesn’t dominate power forever,” said Sierra Leonean Professor Abu Bakarr Bah, who was backed by several speakers.
He said winner-takes-it-all politics encouraged presidential contenders to view politics as a do-or-die affair, which causes many conflicts in Africa.
“We should have a political system that produces an inclusive government that reflects the regions, religions and ethnicities of African societies,” Bah said.
Dr Arthur Bainomugisha, the executive director of Acode, a Ugandan think tank and research firm, urged scholars to partner with policymakers.
“Researchers must learn to engage even despots. For me, I will engage everyone even if it is Idi Amin who killed half a million people. Peace scholars and security agencies should come together and discuss Africa’s peace challenges. Research is what drives societies and Africa needs research to be transformed,” Bainomugisha said.
For Dr Suzie Nansozi Muwanga, head of the Political Science department at Makerere University, President Musveni’s closure of Makerere and the clashes in Kasese district that saw over 100 people killed by security agencies, “are symptomatic to a failing system” that every Ugandan should be weary of.
Professor Edward Kirumira, the head of the college of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University, challenged academic leaders to make the university more appealing to young people.
Kirumira said although Makerere has been having problems lately due to a lecturers’ strike that led to its shutdown in November, its scholars must be proud of it.
“Makerere University is a very nice place to be. Every time I wake up, I say I’m going but somehow I don’t go. That means that it’s not the money and I think you have the obligation to increase on the brand of these institutions,” Kirumira said. “If you have problems in those institutions, look at the good things in them.”
Cyril Obi, APN program director, invited African scholars to seek grants from his organization to enable them do research and publish books that will tell the African story.
“We want to make knowledge produced by Africans as accessible as possible. We have put in place publishers and editors to edit your work so as to produce as many African Social Science researchers as possible,” Obi said.
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