Personal Opinion
This Millennium - is opposition still viable in Africa…?
Sam Mwaka-karama
African political opposition is slowly getting onto the think-tank chopping blocks: the questions are on the increase; how viable is this aspect of democracy anymore…? Couldn’t Africa be better-off under a unitary (intellect concentrated) and structurally all inclusive political system? What interests does opposition serve - by merely existing? Who is responsible for the maintenance costs of opposition political parties? Will opposition perennially depend on foreign and international finance benefactors? Who foots the enormous costs-bills incurred during opposition election primaries? Is an African opposition able to deliver an alternative (change) model of democracy? Significantly - what would such models be like in terms of ‘ideology and manifesto’?
Isn’t it becoming increasingly apparent that western models don’t work in Africa? Or might begin to practically falter… in the dynamics of the new Millennium?
In the socio-political curricular of most African studies, there seem to be a huge pothole in the promenade of academics here - where the identity of the African “Political Party”, is ill defined. Whatever paltry definitions often cited by anybody… are usually direct quotations from western scholars. Quotations from philosophies written based on non African society backgrounds.
Apart from directly identifying with the western concepts (almost rudimentarily), where are the more realistic definitions of the African ‘political party’?
Well, social sciences studies describe these (political party) entities in generalized terms… but, apart from (the activity of arguing in-precincts, to control incumbent excesses - where are the opposition parameters for delivering the alternative…?), traditional opposition parties like the DP - Democratic Party, CP - Conservative Party etcetera have never actually ruled in Uganda… though many of their members have participated individually in governments; taking-up jobs, where their parties won’t achieve outright…
These are some of the many-many questions likely to cramp popular debate-forums throughout African as we move forward deeper into this Millennium: truth is - as this millennium matures, what is likely to become more and more visible is the lacking of solid ideological and manifesto inputs note-worthy, that the (traditional) opposition could offer.
African political thought hasn’t as yet visualized the role of the opposition in terms of tangible framework ideas that could viably implement changes (traditionally oppositions often talk more of change - than development), and these are two different aspects of the national endeavor.; nationally we endeavor to create changes as often as possible - likewise - we endeavor to achieve developments as mile-stones for our advancement towards the greater common goals - goals that are constantly time-shifted further and further away, as we reach newer landmarks.
African political thinkers might yet have to align certain political party principle-terminologies to relevant features of political democracy in Africa (if at all there is such a thing): terms like “Democratic Party “ principles or “Republican Party” principles, “Liberal Party” principles, “Conservative Party” principles, “Labor Party” principles, largely manifest themselves as components of western world capitalism ideologies… more appropriately applicable comfortably in the developed cosmopolitan and metropolitant western countries.
While typically African political parties; “African National Congress” or “National Resistance Movement” or “Uganda People’s Congress” or “Forum for Democratic Change” or “Rwanda Patriotic Front” or “Chama Cha Mapenduzi”- (Party for Change - or - Party for Revolution) or “Kenya African National Union” etcetera, generally come across as popular indigenous African political parties conceptualized to mobilize mass-following and render legality status to the entities for the purpose of sorting-out African self rule…
The break-up of the ANC in South Africa recently, demonstrates that the African political party lacked intricate security and safety parameters in its principles: the individuals within the party leadership often become more powerful than the organization - thus ANC could break-up.
It is arguable therefore that given our large African ethnic communities, with our multiple dialects and languages, implementation of individual political party concepts of change may bear no meaning and viability - rather a singular unitary sense of direction concentrated in a political system under which the collective intellectual capacity of a given country is housed, might generate better, the principles for development of that country.
Recent political developments in Uganda have demonstrated that; much as the Ugandan people crave for multi-party system of governance, still the viability of its parliamentary practice (both at national and local government levels) are questionable… Bills in discussions often create ‘tug-of-war’ along party lines that threaten the national goal! Forcing government in certain instances to (quietly) dish-out certain (softening) benefits to parliamentarians, under various tags ranging from the official ‘constituency funds’ to others less official ones, which are often swiped-at in the media as ‘inducements’…
But then the ‘reforms in discussion’ tabled by the incumbent or petitioned by the opposition and other entities, are never-the-less, bills that once passed, have benefits for the whole country… why would inducements be necessary.
How then would opposition ‘conditionally-agitate’ so as to bring to bear on government pressures that spur the state to dish-out those said ‘inducements’… aren’t the very principles of opposition parties being flaunted?
Political party members have also (during the current campaign period) been reported to have crossed to government side - including the Kampala Mayor Nasser Seya Ntegge Ssebaggala, who was since reported to have crossed to the ruling party. A man who was at one time billed with being a possible DP presidential candidate - had there not been better options perhaps.
Similarly there have been reports in the media - alluding to the notion - that come 2011 the year of Uganda’s next general elections, UPC Presidential candidate Olara Otunnu might opt for a political deal with President Yoweri Museveni - and a vice presidential appointment is cited… in a unitary political system, a whole college of potentiates would vie in competitive ballots for that post - while in the western model the arrangement might be called a coalition; where Olara Otunnu as UPC President might come-in with an entourage of his work team - but given our African-ness, there are always clutters of obstacles - including dire personality issues.
Well, politics is often said to be also a ‘game of chance’, more so in Africa where almost nothing is for certain and, “one in hand is better than two still out there somewhere”. What are our political interests? Do we need to be loyal to a political party even if it might never offer the dynamic development we aspire for? Do we have to subscribe to opposition or any party that promises no developments? When-actually, we see realistic advances being recorded under our very noses by the incumbent? Critically, what do we politically want… if not development - the question of leadership is participatory. And the question of leadership change becomes purely constitutional… if the nitty-gritty were set right by parliament.
Isn’t the unitary African political system then, the better developmental leadership funneling option? Where our concentrated intellect might create the better forum for the amicable arguing of our collective interests? Couldn’t an African concept of a round-table parliamentary system be an alternative to European’s (Incumbent Vs. Opposition settings) traditional parliamentary system that in Africa seem to generate nothing but negativity?
It is quite possible that had South Africa for example been a unitary political system, with a round-table conference setting parliamentary system, with perhaps a participatory lower galleria of human rights activists, the media and religious entities (in place of opposition voices in parliament), the changes that took place in ANC would not have created a break-away. The changes that broke ANC were very powerfully tribal.
This factor and the Kenyan election violence, should demonstrate to African Scholars, that a new purely African, by African political systems study, is very urgently needed.
Africans cannot hang-on to what western scholars formulated for their own democracies, and still think that these are going to work - in this new Millennium, with its new high-technology, there is a new value that has suddenly been added to Africa’s rural societies - African politics is not anymore going to be parliamentary (Us against Them), but rather (Our Common good). ****
