Elections in Africa are a mere formality, human rights activist says

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Elections in Africa are a mere formality, human rights activist says

1:01 CAT | 09 Mar 2020

Arnold Tsonga. [Photo: Twitter / @SAHRDNetwork]

The chairperson of the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Arnold Tsunga, said on Friday in Maputo that electoral processes on the continent have become a mere formality and do not reflect citizens’ rights to choose their rulers.

“In Africa, what happens in electoral processes is the fulfilment of a chronological ritual, in which only an electoral calendar is fulfilled, without the content of universal suffrage,” Arnold Tsunga said during a lecture entitled “New Authoritarianism, Civic Space and Defending Human Rights,” at the Polytechnic University in Maputo.

According to Tsunga, universal suffrage in most African countries is characterised by the denial, often violent, of the population’s right to the free choice of its rulers.

“Generally, who governs us is not the person we choose, but the person who has [control of] the security forces and the resources of the State to perpetuate himself in power,” Tsunga said.

As a result of the rigging of electoral processes, he continued, several African states are run by “predatory and antidemocratic elites,” who squander their countries’ resources.

“In some cases, they are predatory and anti-democratic elites indifferent to the development of their countries, as is the case in Zimbabwe. In other cases they are anti-democratic elites, but they promote the development of their countries, as is the case in Rwanda,” he said.

Citing several studies, Arnold Tsunga highlighted alliances between the groups that control political power in Africa and foreign investors, which result in a drain on the continent’s natural resources.

The chairperson of the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network said that, in order to maintain their privileges, those in power cement their control over the defence and security forces, the judiciary and the business sector.

In this context, he continued, elections are used as a means of legitimising oligarchies.

“As long as we don’t have a culture of political alternation through democratic means, the lives of human rights defenders and hard-won freedoms will always be in danger,” he said.

Our Chairperson @tsunga_arnold gave a public lecture on Authoritarianism, Civic space, and Human rights defending in Maputo on Friday 6 May 2020.

Please follow the link to read more:https://t.co/mAo2q3KVN9 pic.twitter.com/VuRr8dmnFU

— Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (@SAHRDNetwork) March 9, 2020