Democracy under threat, says Raila

PHOTO | FILE CORD leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga addressing the press in the past. Poverty and rising inequality among citizens are killing democracy in Africa, according to former premier.  

In Summary

• Raila Odinga urged African governments to make a priority to policies that would help narrow income inequality among segments in society and promote opportunity for the poor as the continent’s growth picks up.
• Mr Odinga said rising poverty could spell doom for democracy in the continent

By Nation Correspondent
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Poverty and rising inequality among citizens are killing democracy in Africa, according to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

While speaking at the Annual Conference of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr Odinga said rising poverty could spell doom for democracy in the continent.

“Poor citizens feel voiceless and helpless in the debates that shape elections. They feel they have no power to determine what is important and what is not in an election year. They believe democracy is on sale and leadership goes to the highest bidder. In the end, this is a threat to democracy, to growth and to stability,” Mr Odinga said, according to a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Dennis Onyango.

He urged African governments to make a priority to policies that would help narrow income inequality among segments in society and promote opportunity for the poor as the continent’s growth picks up.

Mr Odinga said that while African countries form the majority of top 10 growing economies in the world, their growth was neck to neck with extreme poverty, with almost one out of every two Africans living in extreme poverty.

The Cord leader called for far-reaching and inclusive economic reforms to improve people’s lives.

“Economic reforms in Africa have hardly paid attention to people struggling to meet the demands of their daily life at the bottom of the ladder.

They have never focused on ensuring upward mobility for those at the bottom,” he said.