Africa's Failing Democracies

Africa's Failing Democracies

2 July, 2010 | By Jason McLure (Newsweek)
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When human rights Watch criticized the results of Ethiopia’s May
elections, in which the ruling coalition “won” an improbable 545 out
of 547 seats, leaders in Addis Ababa didn’t ignore the influential
NGO. Instead, they paid tens of thousands of demonstrators to
gather in the capital and denounce the report.

Ethiopia’s political shenanigans are emblematic of a growing trend
away from democracy in Africa. The swing includes not only pariah
states like Eritrea and Sudan, but also U.S. allies like Rwanda,
where President Paul Kagame is up for reelection and seems set to
duplicate the improbable 95 percent victory he posted seven years
ago. Rights groups have already cried foul: a general who criticized
Kagame was shot, charges have been brought against a top
opposition leader, and a dissident journalist was killed. In Gabon
and Togo, the deaths of long-serving autocrats have meant elections
in which power was smoothly -transferred—to their sons, that is.
Mauritania, Guinea, Madagascar, and Niger have all suffered coups
in the past two years. Freedom House, a nonprofit that tracks
democratic trends, dropped three African countries from its list of
“electoral democracies” last year, and reported declines in political
freedom in 10 others. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation—which offers a
lucrative prize to African leaders who both help their countries and
peacefully leave office—decided not to offer an award last year.

Why the backsliding? It’s partly thanks to the rise of China, which
provides cheap loans and investment to resource-rich countries
while asking no hard questions about human rights, thus
strengthening the hold of authoritarian governments. The West is to
blame, too. The Obama administration and its European allies have
turned a blind eye to autocratic trends in -places like Uganda,
Burundi, and Ethiopia because of those countries’ role in -battling
Islamists.

There’s no easy solution. Making aid conditional on meeting
democratic or human-rights standards would mean a halt to
programs that help the poor. Criticizing military allies risks disrupting
the war against radical Islamists. But as long as Western countries
stay the course, more Africans will grow skeptical of the West’s
declared support for the rule of law. “If this is their representation of
democracy and human rights, they shouldn’t talk about it anymore,”
says Hailu Shawel, an Ethiopian opposition leader. “They should
shut up.” The Obama administration and its allies could win back
credibility by taking a tougher line on Kagame and his fellow
leaders—but they seem more likely to keep looking away.

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