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ISSN : 1744-2532 E- ISSN 2516-5305
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In contemporary Africa, interests have always centered on how to completely dismantle the grip of the West on the progressive development of the continent. This expectation raises question about the capacity of Africa to effectively cope if the West has been axed from its region, especially on how Africans can galvanize their resources towards the progressive path of development. This suspicion is validated on the grounds that Africa still suffers from the limitations that affected it in the colonial era. Although Africa looks very promising, considering its endowment of natural resources and high young population index, it has hardly converted these virtues into positive developmental outcomes. It is still the poorest continent, with a high index of hunger, malnutrition, and illiteracy. Unlike other continents, Africa still suffers limitations from terrorism, insurgency, corruption, bad governance, poor leadership, military interventions, violent conflicts, and ethnic and religious cleavages. These limitations have overwhelming ramifications for the transformation of Africa in the 21st century. The suppression of constitutionalism and manipulation of the constitution to increase the tenure of some ruling governments in power is now an invitation to military incursions in democratic politics in Africa. In past decades, freedom of the press and compliance with court rulings by some African governments showed that in Africa, democracy has been replaced with authoritarianism, as authoritarian leaders continue to use state coercion, detention, and other forms of intimidation to defeat robust press reporting. Today, Africa, more than any other region, remains the continent with the highest number of people forced into exile. Evidence abounds to show that African democracies are notorious for media censorship. Several media experts and other African citizens have been charged with sedition under the sedition law for reporting or publishing articles that are critical to the ruling and administration of many African presidents.
Opposition views and leaders that could have, through their constructive criticism of the ruling African governments, been strategically eased out by authoritarian governments in some African states They are gradually manipulating their state’s judicial system to eliminate opposition instead of suppressing it politically. Fundamental rights of citizens are violated using laws that are meant to protect the public or civic rights. Africa is home to countries and leaders that have used counterterrorism charges to stalk and oppress defenders of human rights. The cases of Ethiopia and Kenya, where human rights organizations have been tamed, abused, and prosecuted illegally with counterterrorism charges, adequately explained how spiteful and undemocratic leaders in Africa are. Although the charges were not upheld by the courts, the two cases showed the desperation of African leaders in power. This desperation has led some of them to provoke the resurgence of coups in Africa.
The deliberate manipulation of constitutions by some greedy authoritarian African leaders, under the disguise of a democratic regime, to extend their tenure beyond the constitutionally approved limits is becoming a new way of mugging Africa of its hard-earned democracy. Today, all eyes are on the tiny, populated Niger because of the violent protests that seem to be in favor of the military junta for ending what the majority of the citizens have described as bad governance, an authoritarian democratic regime, and a likely attempt to elongate the tenure limit. While the military resurgence into democratic politics in Africa is bad in all ramifications, it has been blamed on the deliberate attempt by leaders to circumvent or disregard constitutionally approved tenure terms or limits. The African Union and other regional or sub-regional organizations, such as ECOWAS, have been criticized for not condemning attempts to manipulate established term limits, just as they did to end incessant military coups affecting the region. Other issues that have been blamed for military incursions in contemporary Africa include bad governance, leadership questions, corruption, poverty, inequalities, a selective justice system, poor legislative oversights and controls of the executive, deficient service delivery, and the absence of the rule of law and democratic principles.
To address these issues and transform Africa, assistance has usually been sought mainly from the West and other developed countries, yet Africa continues to grapple with a high level of underdevelopment. This is because humanitarian assistance and foreign aid from the West have an underlining motive that tends to place Africa as a perpetual appendage to the West. Africa needs to first identify and discuss these limitations or problems as its own and not those of the West or developed global partners. With this recognition, there is a need to conduct a comprehensive investigation into Africa’s problems by mainly Africans who have the desire to contribute to Africa’s sustainable development. This brings to the fore the uniqueness of African Renaissance, an African research journal that provides the platform for well-researched articles that discuss issues concerning Africa.
This current issue of African Renaissance is a collection of multi-disciplinary research articles that discuss contemporary lingering problems affecting Africa. It covers topical issues like decolonization of Africa, African elections, governance, policy implementation, political risks, political patronage and competition, corruption and anti-corruption agencies, African traditions, and ethnic identities, among others. It is believed that findings from this multi-disciplinary, well-articulated research will go a long way toward contributing to the transformation of Africa. If leaders in the region adopt this edition’s policy direction, Africa’s long-expected development will be in sight.