Why politics of transition in Africa is termed a period of crisis

Political transition period is a crisis period since in Africa there are no institutions to govern this critical process. History has demonstrated this and contemporary African philosopher are genuine in their concerns. Institutions take the interests of the country first and should never be dependent with the persons holding those offices. The holder of transition office should always remember that they are holding it based on public trust. African philosophers have identified these crises which I will elaborate.

The first crisis is that of identity which means that in African the government of the day is identified with the ethnic community that the incumbent president comes from. When the incumbent is defeated in elections they drag their whole ethnic community that they are losing power and prepare for the worst. This creates ethnic animosity since people cannot differentiate between the individual in power and their ethnic backgrounds.  Many times those who occupy top echelons are from the president’s ethnic group and this aggravates the transition politics further. There is always an element of distrust among the ethnic groups and the identity of the political figures is lost. One is left wondering whether it is the individual who won the presidency or the ethnic community. This is the crisis in Africa.

The second crisis is of legitimacy whereby the people feel that the government of the day lacks the moral authority to govern. This feeling is brought about if there was immense rigging of the elections or lots of suspicion on the democratic process. It is well known that incumbents always influence the elections using state machinery and people feel aggrieved and this creates a crisis in transition politics in Africa.  If there was manipulation of the constitution to accommodate the incumbent then   it compounds the problems of transition further. Some presidents in Africa finish their legal terms in office, but change the constitution and start afresh and the cycle continuous till death does them part.            

The third crisis is on participation of the people in the democratic process of the country.   People should be involved in deciding on how they want to be governed. When political leaders take the people as fools who know nothing about democracy then they are creating a crisis. In Africa it is a one man show whereby the president is the head of political party, personal rule is the order of the day, opaque nomination process, weakening other political parties or promoting numerous political parties to split the votes of the opposition.     These are the tactics that stifle public participation in the determination of how the country should be governed hence transition politics becomes a hot potato.  In some countries public participation is the reserve of the few who can be compromised and the incumbent does window dressing to force its rule on the people.          

Lastly is the crisis of   equitable distribution of resources. It is well know that in Africa marginalization of opposition ethnic communities and geographical areas is a political tool. During campaigns the distribution of national resources is dangled hence people fight to make sure that they get their proponents to office so as to gain from the national resources. During transition this is a crisis since those relinquishing power make it know that their voters will no longer enjoy favor of national resources, so the only way is war. 


I offer the following solutions to the above crisis:

The first and most important is institutionalization of the transition process in the constitution. The constitution is the supreme that determines how the state should be governed hence the transition clause should be there. The people handling the transition should be independent persons appointed by independent authority.

There should be Civic education in the role of various political institutions in government to people. People should be able to differentiate the person from the state officer he / she holds on behalf of the public. People should be educated that ethnicity is an adage used by politicians to perpetuate misrule.

Thirdly is the enshrining of equitable distribution of resources and state jobs in the constitution. This will prevent ethnic animosity, that the community in power benefits most.

Fourthly is the adoption of the best available electoral process. This will improve the credibility of the elections hence reduce the tensions associated with transition. When people have confidence in electoral process then they accept the outcome and move on. This closes the gaps used by politicians to instigate people to reject elected leaders.

Lastly is a revamped and independent judiciary whereby those who are dissatisfied can seek recourse. The judicial matters on election and transition should be enshrined in the constitution. If it is in the public domain on what to expect in courts in regards to these matters then people will be able to practise their democratic rights freely.