Amii Omara-Otunnu: Confronting Tyranny In Africa In The Era Of Barack Obama
[Dr. Amii Omara-Otunnu, D.Phil. (Oxon.), is UNESCO Chair-holder & Executive Director, UNESCO Institute of Comparative Human Rights, Executive Director, UConn-ANC Partnership & Professor of History.]
...The test of credibility and consistency for the Obama administration will increase in intensity as people begin to direct spotlights on the various elections scheduled to be held in a number of countries, among which are Burundi, Ethiopia, Guinea, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
If officials in the Obama administration continue to speak unambiguously and consistently on issues of procedural foundations to democracy across Africa, as they have done about Nigeria, they would indeed have made a major contribution to the continent’s renewal, as “partners in capacity building for transformational change” in the continent.
As the momentum of democratic struggles gains pace in Africa, the Obama administration has a real possibility to be credited by future generations and historians as the leaders who, in solidarity with the great majority of Africans, hastened the advent of democratic dispensation in the continent and in the process helped redeem Africa’s promise to realize her enormous potentials for the common and greater good of the people.
As they go about implementing the new policies, they should take into account the fact that in Africa, the militarization of politics and the corruption of election commissions, wherever they have occurred, have been the main impediments to establishing democracy in the continent. In a number of countries, rulers who are intent on establishing presidential monarchies rather than democracy have used the politics of violence and fear as techniques for bolstering power and securing obedience. Predictably, democracy has been stifled in those countries: this is because democracy cannot flower in an environment in which the condition of settling difference depend on the brute power of the parties and where the security forces have become the instruments of repression on behalf of one party.
The simple and profound truth is that Africans cannot be exempt or exempt themselves from the iron laws of history about democracy, which teach us three fundamental lessons. The first is that the principles and methods of democracy are the same all over the world, although they may acquire different features according to the democratic energy of each people and epoch. The second is that no meaningful democratic results can be attained by undemocratic methods. Indeed, the eclipse of democracy the world over has come about through military means and at staggering human costs. And the third is that a democratic culture can grow and mature only in an environment where and when opposition parties have equal opportunities to freely and peacefully complete in elections; and that when any party wins election, it can indeed take power without resort to violence.
It is for these reasons that President Obama is right in emphasizing the importance of becoming “partners in capacity building for transformational change.” In order for this to be meaningful and contribute to a brighter future for Africans, the partnership should be with those who hold and share the values that animate democracy and the rule of law rather than with opportunistic rulers or individuals who have no scruples for democracy and the rule of law....
Read entire article at Black Star News (NY)
...The test of credibility and consistency for the Obama administration will increase in intensity as people begin to direct spotlights on the various elections scheduled to be held in a number of countries, among which are Burundi, Ethiopia, Guinea, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
If officials in the Obama administration continue to speak unambiguously and consistently on issues of procedural foundations to democracy across Africa, as they have done about Nigeria, they would indeed have made a major contribution to the continent’s renewal, as “partners in capacity building for transformational change” in the continent.
As the momentum of democratic struggles gains pace in Africa, the Obama administration has a real possibility to be credited by future generations and historians as the leaders who, in solidarity with the great majority of Africans, hastened the advent of democratic dispensation in the continent and in the process helped redeem Africa’s promise to realize her enormous potentials for the common and greater good of the people.
As they go about implementing the new policies, they should take into account the fact that in Africa, the militarization of politics and the corruption of election commissions, wherever they have occurred, have been the main impediments to establishing democracy in the continent. In a number of countries, rulers who are intent on establishing presidential monarchies rather than democracy have used the politics of violence and fear as techniques for bolstering power and securing obedience. Predictably, democracy has been stifled in those countries: this is because democracy cannot flower in an environment in which the condition of settling difference depend on the brute power of the parties and where the security forces have become the instruments of repression on behalf of one party.
The simple and profound truth is that Africans cannot be exempt or exempt themselves from the iron laws of history about democracy, which teach us three fundamental lessons. The first is that the principles and methods of democracy are the same all over the world, although they may acquire different features according to the democratic energy of each people and epoch. The second is that no meaningful democratic results can be attained by undemocratic methods. Indeed, the eclipse of democracy the world over has come about through military means and at staggering human costs. And the third is that a democratic culture can grow and mature only in an environment where and when opposition parties have equal opportunities to freely and peacefully complete in elections; and that when any party wins election, it can indeed take power without resort to violence.
It is for these reasons that President Obama is right in emphasizing the importance of becoming “partners in capacity building for transformational change.” In order for this to be meaningful and contribute to a brighter future for Africans, the partnership should be with those who hold and share the values that animate democracy and the rule of law rather than with opportunistic rulers or individuals who have no scruples for democracy and the rule of law....