In a new study, on average, just over half polled in 28 African countries consider their country a “full democracy” or one with “minor problems”.
Liberia referendum in 2011. (Photo/ Flickr/ Brittany Danisch).
TANZANIA’S election is only 40 days away, and it’s being billed as the country’s closest yet, pitting John Magufuli of the ruling CCM party against Edward Lowassa of the opposition coalition UKAWA.
Lowassa is a former prime minister and long-term member of CCM, defecting to the opposition only a few months ago when he failed to clinch the ruling party’s presidential ticket, in the process triggering angry recriminations from opposition stalwarts who had expected a fair fight, only to see the top ticket handed to a queue-jumper.
Magufuli on the other hand has been described as an “accidental candidate”, not having been seen as a front-runner until he was named as the ruling party’s flag bearer.
Terribly exciting
The intrigue and drama makes for terribly exciting news, if only for the reason that Tanzania is seen as a bastion of stability (some would say, “boring” politics) the region, where CCM has dominated the party’s politics since independence in 1961.
Still, a new report released Tuesday reveals that even a country with a good reputation like Tanzania can have a conflicted relationship with democracy. The paper from Afrobarometer, published on the International Day of Democracy, examines how Africans perceive the quality of their democracies.
On average, just over half of the respondents (52%) consider their country a “full democracy” or “a democracy with minor problems”, and 37% say that their country is not a democracy, or is one with major problems. It is a good showing, for a continent stereotypically associated with dictators and despots.
Mauritius (76%), Botswana (75%) and Namibia (72%) have the highest numbers if those who consider their countries to be full democracies, or as ones with minor problems.
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