A new report by the pan-african research and survey group, Afrobarometer has revealed that poor political performance by African leaders is posing threat to Africans’ commitment to democracy.
The findings of the group’s latest survey was released at an event in Ghana’s capital, Accra on Wednesday.
In a statement Afrobarometer said “Africans remain strongly committed to democracy, its norms, and institutions, but there are also causes for concern.”
The findings revealed that popular support for democracy has declined sharply over the past decade, in several countries. Opposition to military rule though among Africans has rather weakened.
“Satisfaction with the way democracy works has continued to decline. While popular satisfaction with democracy is highly susceptible to economic, social, and political performance, support for democracy is resilient against economic factors such as poverty and poor economic management,” the findings showed.
According to the survey, respondents blamed “political factors, including rising corruption in local government, poor-quality elections, and a lack of presidential accountability, as factors that tend to undermine popular faith in democracy.”
Afrobarometer said going forward, “nurturing support for democracy will therefore require strengthening integrity in local government and improved official accountability.
The report, the first in what will be an annual series on high-priority topics, distils findings from data spanning more than a decade, including the latest round of nationally representative surveys in 39 African countries, representing the views of more than three-fourths of the continent’s population.
The findings were based on 53,444 face-to-face interviews. The report also includes country democracy scorecards that present graphic illustrations of Afrobarometer findings on the most critical indicators of democratic demand and supply for each of the countries surveyed.
The outcome showed that most Africans prefer democracy to any other system of government and reject non-democratic alternatives, including military rule.
Respondents also strongly endorse norms, institutions, and practices associated with democratic governance, such as choosing political leaders through the ballot box, constitutional limits on presidential tenure, presidential compliance with court rulings, parliamentary oversight of the executive, media freedom, and multiparty competition.
“Remarkably for a continent with huge gaps in government services, a clear – and growing – majority say it is more important for a government to be accountable to the people than to “get things done,” the statement from Afrobarometer said.
Weakened opposition to military rule is also of concern, according to Afrobarometer. “More than half of Africans express a willingness to tolerate military intervention “when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends,” even though two-thirds reject institutionalised military rule.”
“While Africa’s youth differ little from their elders in their support for democracy, they express a greater willingness to tolerate military intervention,” the findings revealed.
Afrobarometer concluded that “worryingly, perceptions of important democratic governance practices have either been declining over time, as in the case of presidential respect for the courts and Parliament, or have remained stagnant at very low levels, as in the case of equal treatment before the law.”
The full report is here.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
