The electoral commission has announced the next general election will be held on August 2, 2017. To be precise, August 8, 2017, is the D-day. This has revitalised political activity and party realignment in readiness for the elections. The variegated nature of our political parties may give birth to new 'election vehicles' full of vigour and promise to deliver the country out of its social-economic-political (development) challenges. But do we really have political parties or they are just born out of convenience, without any grounding philosophy?
Electoral democracy is exercised through political party and election contests. There are three premises upon which African political parties have negated democracy. The first was at Independence. African political parties originated in the non-democratic setting of colonial rule. In the urge to leave behind political institutions similar to their own, the departing colonial governments exported their peculiar version of government, with several parties and a recognised opposition.
The second omission is the speed of political development. Numerous ethnically based parties emerged in opposition to one another. After Independence and with the waning of the ‘decolonisation nationalism’, the political elite abandoned the goal of national unity and fell back on tribal parties. This was the third and final blow.
Indigenous African leadership held basic tenets of democratic governance that have been adapted to contemporary political realities, at least according to the African Development Forum, 2004, Ethiopia. These tenets delivered a clear understanding and agreements regarding the ideas and principles that underlie their political systems and on the basis of which power and authority were exercised by the various elements of government. Parties are thus recognised as essential components of representative democracy. Indeed, Mafeje rightly pointed out that it is difficult to imagine how the governance of modern states could be accomplished without meaningful political parties.
Since the start of the third wave of democratisation in 1974, various forms of multiparty political systems have been introduced in Africa. This has been done with the rational view to: empower vulnerable groups, increase transparency, mediate conflict and achieve redistribution of income to the poor. But it may also give more influence to already-powerful elites, marginalise the poor and minorities, and be used to mobilise ethnic and religious groups against each other. Hence, the good functioning of mature parties is central to democratisation and development. A crucial look at the current political party system reflects the opposite.
In 'real' democracies, parties are indispensable, voluntary and informal associations where people share common values, customs and attitudes to their role in politics. They are products of and operate within economic structures, and in a context of interests that are affected by and respond to the accumulation and distribution of goodwill and resources. Africa's mushrooming political parties are based on none of these ideals.
Parties ought to be formed to implement a people-oriented political ideology. Ideally, they represent political constituencies and interests, recruit and socialise new candidates for office, set policymaking agenda, integrate disparate groups and individuals into the democratic process, and form the basis of stable political coalitions and governments. Parties should also provide deeper, systemic support to make democracy work. According to the US National Democratic Institute, for instance, political parties form the cornerstone of a democratic society and serve a function unlike any other institution in a democracy. Parties aggregate and represent social interests and provide a structure for political participation. Here is why I maintain that parties have failed the litmus test.
In Africa, four democracy challenges are a challenge in our current political party systems. First, the parties impede competitive politics, which leads to political apathy and low voter turnout, as in the last elections in South Africa, Mozambique, Mali and Senegal. Second, dominant parties dominate the legislature and monopolise the lawmaking process to promote their economic and social interests, eg Jubilee. Third, governments formed under the system are less accountable to the legislature, which they dominate, and the opposition, which is too small to be effective. Fourth, they encourage government to become arrogant unresponsive to citizen demands.
There ought to be deliberate and immediate efforts to mediate between the demands of citizens and actions of the parties. These must be geared towards aggregating voters demands into coherent and sustainable public policy-party manifestos.
Jacob Otachi is a PhD, leadership and governance student at JKUAT.