DEMOCRACY-PILL, THE PANACEA FOR AFRICA, IS A COUNTERFEIT PRODUCT

by Simeon Nkola Matamba ( Follow on Twitter )



Underdevelopment, famine, malaria, wars, mass abductions, corruption, unemployment, poverty: the diagnosis of Africa's condition cannot be darker. The wave of independence and freedom that swept over the continent 50 years ago allowed natives to take control of their own destiny. The movement was the epitome of the fundamental right for populations in different countries of Africa to exert power for their own sake. That is the basis of the democracy concept as outlined in its most spread definition. Nonetheless, the dream of autonomy for africans would later be destroyed by the work of heartless dictators turning countries into personal ranches, helping themselves by looting resources and enforcing brutal repressive policies against the slightest gesture of opposition. Few rulers embodied a vision of total independence and the courage to pursue it. Among them are Lumumba, Sankara, who not only believed, but most of all, fought for african development and Pan-Africanism, at the expense of their lives.

A second wave started rolling in the early 1990s, shaking fortifications of old established systems. Apartheid was halted, a dictator like Mobutu had to  loosen his grip on the people. But it is mainly in the last decade that all kinds of elections have been held in most african countries. Either presidential and national assembly elections or referendums, voting has become a trend that restores the feeling that the people is again at the center of future and destiny.

It's been years now that we keep swallowing the pill supposed to put an end to plagues and chaos. Despite enthusiasm and propaganda, support from westerner pharmacists providing the pill in large quantities, the plague is still roaming throughout the land. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's estimations are of 239 million undernourished people in Africa. Regarding poverty, incomes are not sufficient, hence not enough purchasing power to acquire food and have access to basic goods and services. Around 400 million people live in dire poverty. Unemployment is also bringing its share of disaster in a continent were youth population is expected to reach 75 percent in 2015. Corruption, military conflicts and mass abductions complete the list.

The status quo is too critical to naively believe in a panacea :"democracy-pill". I am not saying that I am against democracy, but rather that we must pay close attention to what we are doing. No mentally stable person can believe that we are attaining sustainable development, by casting a piece of paper called ballot paper in a box called ballot box. Democracy as power of the people is basically the right and the will of the people to be heard and served. This not only when it comes to voting, but most of all, the people must be involved in all stages of the political course.

Democracy-pill, in its african version, poses a threat to the people meant to be its main beneficiary. There is a trap in two ways. First, democracy-pill is basically a counterfeit medicine produced in cheap laboratories. Sold to the poor lacking what it takes to purchase better, the counterfeit product doesn't only fail to heal, but brings horrendous side effects. Democracy-pill, african version, comes along with intimidation, repression of political opponents, and fraud. The second threat is that the pill is designed in a way to get things locked in a dangerous conformism. There is no african country whose elected president is impeached due to corruption or incompetence. It means that no matter what a president does, citizens must hold their peace and say nothing on the grounds of respecting the democratic constitutional order that stipulates that he was elected for a five years term for instance. Or, fraudulent legislative elections give presidents majority in the parliament and free way to amend laws and make oneself eternal president. All this shows that the demos is very far from having the kratos.

Years have passed, we have the same problems we had in the past. Only now folks start realising  that democracy in the way it was presented to them is a scam. Indeed, democracy-pill is less dangerous than dictatorship in terms of little evolutions in freedom of expression and liberalization of information, or the right to freely create or join a political representation. But all that is meager compared to crucial issues. People of power means power to appoint rulers who in return serve the people. People of power means power to hire politicians and fire them whenever they go astray from what they are meant to do.

Hadn't it been radical changes 50 years ago, african countries wouldn't have been able to snatch independence. And today to find the way back to development fathers of independence died for, a new leadership is highly needed. There must be a radical change in the way we view democracy. It must stop to be a morning stroll ending at a polling station where we cast papers in boxes. The solution should be the appointment of leaders and the establishment of clear provisions in laws enforcing the principle of accountability. Democracy can only be attained if the people have the right to fair elections and the power to hold their rulers accountable. Democracy is attained when the people's demands are fully respected.