Freedom and democracy are under attack while authoritarianism continues to grow across the African continent; authoritarianism and democratic decline are narrowing the continent’s political and civic space through constitutional engineering, informational controls, incentivising division, and targeted restrictions on civil society.
Africa’s political space suffers not because of a lack of good leaders but because of the insatiable appetite for power by the national leadership who will do anything to concentrate it. Authoritarianism is systemic not a creation of just one individual, it comprises different pillars of support, including governmental institutions (legislatures, courts), media outlets, religious organisations, businesses, security and paramilitary groups, financial backers, and cultural associations, etc. that provide authoritarians (and other powerholders) with the social, political, economic, coercive, and other means to stay in power.
Key to postcolonial Africa’s political environment is the chronic, toxic polarisation of the political space with little promise for change. The outcome is the ever-widening gap between dreams of decentralisation of power and/ or decision-making process and the reality of centralised institutions causing the marginalisation of the ordinary citizen.
Arguably, the African political space is turning into a laboratory of democracy retreating. In this space, democratic erosion occurs subtly, gradually, and often “legally,” as democratically elected officials use legal and institutional means to undermine the very processes and institutions that brought them to power.
Like any oppressive system, authoritarianism thrives on divisions, disorientation and normalisation of the most absurd of behaviours. It is fuelled by a rhetoric of “Us versus Them” and fortified by the creation of artificial walls between individuals and communities who might otherwise find common ground.
Partisan and tribal framing of the African political environment has not produced positive outcomes for the average citizen; the poor are getting poorer as the space continues to feed the gluttonous wealthy elite who are never getting satisfied. Sadly, the polarisation between communities and nations also continues to thrive. Polarisation damages communities and disincentivises creativity as only social identity and/ or proximity to the powerful, and not ideological innovation, rewards or deprives individuals of opportunities.
Closing authoritarianism spaces requires meaningful public engagement to identify unhelpful patterns of behaviour that create a permissive structure for the imprisonment of public minds. Culture plays a role in moulding human character; it institutionalises certain forms of behaviour that communicate, encourage and normalise certain patterns of thinking and acting.
It is essential that communities do not obey in advance but fight back at the processes being utilised to normalise division and authoritarianism. Structural awareness and resilience are required to stop turning cultural institutions from weakening intellectual and spiritual strength and the education process being misused as an instrument of taming and conditioning individuals instead of producing critical thinkers capable of building strong institutions that do not predispose the public to accepting authoritarianism.
Depolarisation should be public target. If the public does not benefit from political polarity, who does? Instead of listening to leaders pointing at what and who is causing the backsliding of freedom and success, the public should be finding innovative ways to network among themselves to discuss their challenges and potential solutions. How people identify must not determine their life chances, but ability must open equal access to opportunity for all.
There is a need to focus on a pathway that will effectively deny space to dictatorship; depolarisation is a powerful geopolitical and democratic concept centred on proactively defending civic freedoms, strengthening democratic institutions, and resisting authoritarian expansion. Rather than waiting to react to dictatorial actions, depolarisation focuses on pre-emptively closing off the political, social, and digital avenues that autocrats use to seize power.
Africa must invest on the following:
1. Strengthening Democratic Institutions
- Ensuring the independence of the judiciary, legislature, and executive branches to stop any individual from consolidating absolute power.
- Making voting accessible to the ordinary citizen to prevent elite capture of democratic processes.
- Decentralising decision-making to regional and local governments, making it harder for a centralised dictatorship to take hold.
2. Empowering Civil Society and Public Resistance
- Funding and protecting free press entities that hold those in power accountable.
- Safeguarding the right to peaceful protest, freedom of assembly, and the operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
- Strengthening civic education to build public awareness of constitutional rights, historic anti-authoritarian struggles, and the value of democratic norms.
3. Strengthening International Solidarity and Geopolitics
- Using mechanisms within the continental body to freeze assets and restrict travel for human rights abusers and corrupt officials.
- Strengthening alliances between democratic nations to collectively counter the aggressive expansion or interference of authoritarian regimes.
- Providing safe havens, legal aid, and international platforms for political exiles and anti-dictatorship activists.
Africa must work hard to incentivise freedom and transparency over authoritarianism. To reclaim and maintain a public-friendly political space, the public must take control, stop consenting in advance or pre-emptively submitting to repressive expectations. The resistance movement must build and maintain a strong presence to protect moral standards and ethics to ensure systemic accountability and that no individual is allowed to concentrate power.
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