In this issue we discuss the major challenges to the democracy project in Africa, using South Africa, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia as case studies. We pose some key questions: Are the current efforts at instituting liberal democracy and its ethos in Africa sustainable?  What are the challenges facing the democracy project in Africa? How are they being negotiated? And what are the implications of all these for the fate of the democracy project itself, and for Africa’s development aspirations?

Beyond the formal adoption of democracy, are African countries making any significant progress in achieving the so-called ‘democratic dividends’? This article examines the major impediments to the democratisation process in Africa. These constraints are by no means exhaustive. The second part of the essay clarifies the conceptual parameters of democratic transition and consolidation. The third part identifies and explains Africa’s democratic impediments. The fourth part offers conclusive remarks.

Why is it important to look at the consolidation of democracy in South Africa at this stage? Are there any doubts about South Africa’s future emerging? It is now already more than thirteen years since the first democratic election in 1994. It still serves as one of the prime examples of the Third Wave democratisation process in the 1990s. Samuel P. Huntington did discuss in his work also the phenomenon of “counter-waves”, and questions about the state of democracy in South Africa is therefore not an extraordinary exercise.

The unique nature of South Africa’s democratisation is not its content but its process. It was the only unassisted (mediated) constitutional negotiations in Africa in the 1990s. Similar processes occurred in the form of national conferences, especially in Francophone Africa, but their agendas were limited to introducing multiparty elections and not comprehensive democratisation.

Democratic consolidation as an academic focus, was largely dictated by the events in Latin America and Eastern Europe. The journal, Journal of Democracy, and scholars such as Linz and Stepan, Guillermo O’Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter and Larry Diamond made important contributions in this respect. In the 2000s the emphasis in international practice and in scholarship has moved to post-conflict reconstruction (as represented in the policy documents of the AU and NEPAD) or post-conflict peace-building (also represented in the UN’s Peacebuilding Commission).

Democracy and democratic consolidation as concepts are currently counter-balanced by economic concepts such as good governance, growth and economic development. (The Millennium Development Goals are one example of this focus.) Two foci emerged out of this balance between economic and political factors: good governance, and free and fair elections. The other aspects of democratic consolidation are important but secondary in nature.

This paper examines the challenges to democratic consolidation in Nigeria, particularly in the aftermaths of the 2007 General Elections. Having survived a convoluted course of prodigal military rule (1983-1999), Nigeria is arguably well on its way to reaping democratic dividends. With the relative success of the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections – at least by allowing for a continuity of democratic rule, the future of liberal democracy is seemingly secure, albeit highly contested. Thus, it is premature to presume that all is well with the practice of liberal democracy. Even the most optimistic observer of Nigeria could confess to the poignant chaos and hopelessness that pervade the country, Africa’s largest democracy waddling on an agile feet!

Liberia is a country emerging from the ashes of war with physical and psychological rebuilding to be done.  The physical rebuilding include health posts, roads, transportation and communication and institutions among while the psychological  rebuilding  involves things like  altitudes and behaviors. The physical and psychological rebuilding needs have required the assistance of our friends from outside, led by the United Nations.  This means the world is here to assist us.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the national debate on the way forward for national renewal with particular consideration on the impact of the Security Sector Reform /SSR, especially  in the context of the  fight against crime and disorder in post-conflict Liberia. 

Liberia’s post-conflict context is faced with complex challenges.  The protracted civil war severely disrupted all societal institutions. These include the basic ligaments that sustained communities.  Social and political defects growing out of eroded social capital are manifesting themselves in post-war Liberia.  Systems collapse also provides no opportunity to address defects.  For instance, in the case of Liberia both state and traditional structures were based on exclusion.  Liberians seem to be in general agreement on the need for sustainable peace, but what peace and whose peace are the fundamental questions to be addressed.  Liberia’s forward march to peace, development and nationhood demands serious reconciliation with its past so as to build consensus on the type of state anticipated by the current ‘nation-craftsmen’.  The international community has made substantial investment in Liberia’s peace and return to statehood.  However, it must be understood that institution building requires local resources and experiences.  Key to this process is local ownership and vibrant leadership. 

“I cannot lie to you Mats, I have sold my vote,” says Justice, when we, on the election day of the first round, stroll around between polling stations in downtown Freetown. Justice is the nickname I gave him after our first discussions more than three years ago. He then seemed obsessed with justice or rather Sierra Leonean state injustice. Justice fought in the Sierra Leonean Civil War for the Sierra Leone Army but later took AWOL and ran away to the Gambia. He says he joined the army and fought the war to get rid of the rotten “system”. Later he left the army for similar reasons “backstabbing” and “sell game” – the army selling out to economic interests or the enemy. In Gambia he tried to settle down but got involved in money forgery. He ended up killing a person and again he ran, this time back to post-war Sierra Leone. So the justice of Justice is rather confused and idealized, yet well-intended – he has got a good heart. I would argue that this is also the state of affairs for Mama Salone (Mother Sierra Leone). Justice was approached, prior to the first round of election in August, by a local politician from the SLPP ruling party. He was offered 60.000 Leone (20 USD) and a bag of rice to vote for the party. Being broke Justice accepted and on Election Day he placed his vote for the Pa (father of the party).

This paper is not about traditional democracy as such used in Somalia, which has its merits and flaws. It is an examination of how Somali women achieved political power during the period from 2000 to 2003 within traditional approaches for political participation. The discussions and analyses include historical background, discourses of women’s political participation and Islam, and the examination of women’s winning strategies that have been successfully achieved. Finally, some conclusions will be drawn.

Family planning (FP) improves the health, wealth, and lives of women, men and children and is defined as the planning of pregnancies by couples and individuals to achieve reproductive intentions in a timely manner.  It is more than the avoidance of unwanted pregnancies and births; it also includes conceptional care to achieve wanted pregnancies, particularly in the face of reproductive barriers.  Family Planning Repositioning means increasing awareness, relevance and use of contraceptive information and services through related reproductive health and development policies and programs currently operating in a country. With unmet need for family planning increasing, it is up to African leaders to show their support in providing women and men reproductive choices by embracing and invigorating the family planning field.

Africans have been plagued by so-called neglected diseases such as filariasis (elephantiasis), schistosomiasis (bilharziasis), leprosy, malaria, and a host of other communicable diseases. The spread of these diseases has been attributed to the absence of comprehensive control measures, which is further compounded by low poverty levels, with the attendant lack of clean water, malnourishment, and poor sanitary conditions. Numerous afflictions of lesser importance also abound. The economies of most African nations have been severely paralyzed by incessant internecine wars, the huge expenditures of which could have been funneled into development programs to curb the poverty level, and thereby enhance the health of the populations.

 As a predominant feature of life, African traditional medicine is a healthcare system that has deep roots in indigenous culture. The majority of African population (70% to 80%), especially those in the rural areas, rely principally on medicinal plants for their healthcare needs. These plants are usually found in their vicinity, in distant villages, or oftentimes in the wild forest habitats. The practice of administering herbs may sometimes rely on invoking witchcraft, magic, incantation and other supernatural beliefs. Numerous medicinal plants may thus be associated with superstition and rituals. Many African medicinal plants, however, have good science behind them; some await further investigative elucidation.

Unlike in the West, for most Africans the use of medicinal plants is not an alternative, but rather an essential and primary line of defense against illnesses that have challenged their lives through centuries. With modern medicines being far beyond their reach and alien to their culture, Africans turn to the ubiquitous nature to remedy the various health problems that pester their lives. This article provides a bird\'s-eye-view of African medicinal plant resources, and also offers a glimpse of trade, conservation, intellectual property rights, and research issues associated with them.

The Somalis, unlike other member nations of the one hundred and ninety-one members of the United Nations, are increasingly familiar to Americans because of events of the last forty years. In retrospect, one can trace Somali-American relations to the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the United States (U.S.) were fighting for allies. Besides the dangers and benefits of the Cold War, many Somalis felt that their security or insecurity within the American embrace was tied to their political destiny.

The collapse of the Somali state during the last days of President Siad Barre created room for a U.S. penetration into Somali life and culture. While President Barre was firmly secured as a ruler, his country’s relationship would change with America or Russia just like the political climate of the Cold War changed. In his last days, the Somali state disintegrated and the people witnessed radical transformations that now affect their lives.

 Third world countries have always been known as countries that have problems with governance, which stem from lack of proper leadership, insensitivity and political maneuvering. Political and military dictatorships have been the order of the day in most African countries. It has become very difficult for most African and other autocratic leaders to relinquish leadership positions once they get into power, thereby converting the seat of power to family or private property. In so doing, these dictators rain down rules and restrictive laws which help to entrench them in their positions of power, at the detriment of the masses they govern. Some African writers such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Chinua Achebe, Sembene Ousmane, Ayi Kwei Armah have been writing and addressing some of these leadership issues in their works, in order to make the world a better place, yet a lot of African leaders are resistant to change, thus causing political and economic turmoil in their different countries. Nuruddin Farah portrays the ineptitude of the dictatorship government in Somalia, as he exposes the misguided, violent and corrupt practices going on in this government. The issue of proper governance and leadership in Africa and the problems involved form the basis of this paper. From the point of view of Nuruddin Farah’s Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship trilogy, Somalia’s leadership problem, is viewed as a microcosm of most African dictatorship countries.

Biological beauty.  The sense of pride in family and country.  Racial turmoil.  Westernization.  The rapid spread of HIV and AIDS.  Education and hope.  These were only a few of the issues and images that came up when I spoke to three of my peers about their experiences in South Africa.  What began as a simple objective, get college students’ opinions of Africa before and after they visited, ended up catalyzing three unique and eye-opening discussions.  My questions were simple, but Sarita Fritzler, Loretta Brown, and Jeff Lakusta’s answers were not.  The working title for this article before I had completed my interviews was, “Africa: Before and After.” What I learned from these students is their opinions of and experiences in Africa were not quite this cut and dry.

Sarita Fritzler, a senior at Saint Mary’s College, has always held a positive opinion of Africa and its people and it shows.  She lived in Egypt and Ghana for many of her grade school years.