Democracy test for Africa as seven nations hit the ballot box in 2015

 

The controversial presidential elections in Tunisia concluded an exciting year of general elections in Africa, with seven countries picking new leaders. A similar number is heading for the polls in 2015. Apart from Tunisia, there were elections in Egypt, Mozambique, Bostwana, Namibia, Mauritius and
Guinea-Bissau, all observed by missions from the African Union and other monitors mostly drawn from the continent. The South African Development Community (SADC) dispatched observers to Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and Mauritius, while former Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga led the Carter Centre and Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa’s observers in Mozambique’s October 15 elections. Political scientist Amukowa Anangwe watched the 2014 elections with keen interest, but says he is more concerned about the 2015 balloting, which “will be a major test for democracy in Africa” because the countries going to the polls are of strategic interest on the continent and globally. “It will be important for the people of these countries to exercise their democratic rights in a fair and transparent environment without external pressures for the sake of peace and stability on the African continent,” said Anangwe, a former Kenyan Cabinet minister currently lecturing at Tanzania’s University of Dodoma. See also: Will ODM ever learn from its past election blunders? Most elections held this year were largely peaceful, with observer missions reporting transparency and fairness. Among the countries preparing for elections in 2015 is the continent’s biggest economy, Nigeria, where former military leader Muhammadu Buhari will challenge President Goodluck Jonathan on February 14. The contest between the two is expected to be tight in Africa’s most populous nation, where decades of military rule ended in 1999. Acting Zambian President Guy Scott has announced that an election to replace the late Michael Sata will be held on January 20, next year, 90 days after President Sata’s death. Scott is ineligible to stand as a presidential candidate under the Zambian constitution because his parents were not born in Zambia, but has called on all presidential candidates to campaign peacefully. Also going to the polls will be Africa’s youngest nation, South Sudan, which has been hit by internal strife pitting President Salva Kiir against opposition leader Riek Machar. Last month, Kiir told a gathering of his ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, other political parties and civil society organisations that elections must take place before July 2015. Speaking during a consultative conference on peace talks in Juba, Kiir said the legitimacy of any government in South Sudan must be derived from the people through democratic elections. Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000146076/democracy-test-for-africa-as-seven-nations-hit-the-ballot-box-in-2015

South Sudan’s northern neighbour, the Sudan, will also be holding elections in 2015. The Sudanese government recently announced that 17 political parties had confirmed participation in the April polls. And in another of Kenya’s neighbours, Tanzania, politics centred on President Jakaya Kikwete’s succession are taking centre stage in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). With Kikwete set to retire in October 2015, the succession in Tanzania will be closely watched by other members of the East African Community (EAC) and other economic blocs across the continent. Those eyeing the CCM presidential ticket ahead of the party’s nominations in May 2015 include Deputy Minister January Makamba, former prime minister Frederick Sumaye, and ministers Stephen Wassira and Benard Membe. Front runners Makamba recently grabbed headlines in Tanzania after openly declaring his intention to run for the CCM presidential nomination. And as if building bridges beyond Tanzania, Makamba has been in Nairobi, where he gave a series of public lectures on leadership and integrity. See also: Will ODM ever learn from its past election blunders? Makamba, the Communication, Science and Technology deputy minister who between 2005 and 2010 served as Kikwete’s personal assistant before plunging into parliamentary politics in 2010, is seen as one of the front-runners in the presidential nominations. Down South in Lesotho, plans to hold an early election in 2015 have in the recent past been rejected by the main opposition party, the Democratic Congress. After a political crisis caused by a fall-out between the three government partners, Lesotho decided to go for an early poll in 2015. This decision was signed by almost all political parties under the facilitation of SADC, led by South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. In October, the then president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, resigned and urged that an election be held in the next 90 days. Army chief Nabere Honore Traore took over power temporarily and instituted a transitional body to conduct elections. In addition to Mozambique, Kenya had a considerable presence in elections around the continent. Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000146076/democracy-test-for-africa-as-seven-nations-hit-the-ballot-box-in-2015?articleID=2000146076&story_title=democracy-test-for-africa-as-seven-nations-hit-the-ballot-box-in-2015