Due to the developments we are seeing on the electoral field in Africa, I am prompted to share my earlier contribution on elections in the book, “Budding Democracy or Judicialisation: Lessons from Africa’s Emerging Electoral Jurisprudence.” The book was published by the Africa Judges And Jurists Forum (AJJF) and edited by Prof. Christopher Mbazira.
I contributed Chapter four: “Pre-Electoral Period: Election Environment Law and Practice for Restoring the Promise of African Elections.” In this Chapter, which is on page 47, I argue that elections in most African countries are a nightmare, usually associated with violence and fraud, and are a breeding ground for conflicts that will take decades to resolve.
Based on this, I discuss some of the issues that arise during the pre-election period and their impact on civic engagement in general. In doing this, I analyse jurisprudence and best practices in the pre-election period and the election environment.
I found it important to revisit this contribution because the failure of democratic processes is a major demobilising factor for communities. But beyond merely discouraging civic engagement, there is even a worse risk of radicalisation.
What will young people do the day they realise they can’t change society peacefully and that elections are no longer available as a tool for holding leaders to account and for the people to express themselves? We must live in fear of the answer to that question. And this is why we must invest in fixing the calabash because the alternative is unthinkable.
Read my chapter contribution on page 47 of the book available here https://lnkd.in/dhXAqh6h