personal i don't think so
its never free and fair
In countries with fixed terms the president will do two
In countries with none its his for life


have your say

If we did not have presidentail elections would we not be moving back to dictatorship days?
This backwards mentallity can not help Africa.

Even in some of the most developed nations there is corruption and rigging during elections
Though it is not to the extent of that which happens in our backyard.
Should we stop fighting the good fight? Hell No

Any democracy is a better than the best dictatorship, we just gotta work towards our objectives of making Africa a more democratic continent

It really depends on what kind of power the president really has. A presidential system, where the president can choose who's part of the executive branch (such as in the US) can only work if a strong civil society is in place and when there's a strict separation of powers between the local and national levels of government.

Maybe a presidential system where the president has more of a moral role and an actual executive one would be preferable. Most presidents in Africa have way too much power and their power is not balanced by the power of the other levels and/or branches of governement.

So you are attempting to say that a parliamentary system would be more adequate for \Africa?
This may be true inasmuch as the the rigging does not stem down to even the oppositional parties.

But yes this would be i wiser move so as to redistribute political power more evenly to other parties.
My only bone of contention is the level of conflict this system would cause between rival parties

Josboy4life

you must know that we all want and like democracy but its frustrating
when you think you'll be voting for democracy and them you get nothing
i am a political science student , but i wonder if i'll ever be able to fulfil my dream in Africa
most of this old men still in power are the main reasons for coups in africa,

There is no election that will ever be perfect.But to me,the essence of democracy is the abilities of the citizens to be able to elect someone they trust to represent them in bringing about good government and the benefits that comes with it.You can not compare  the best of any military dictator with the worst of any democratic  government-And this is how strong I'm against any military rule in the African continental.
      Democracy in Africa is not  the best it could be,but any election that gives the people the right to choose is better than no election that forces leader on the citizens.And remember that the military boys are trained to be fighters not rulers of a nation!

imageman, mikina is trying to say that voters only get the illusion that there votes actually matter
I think to a large extent she is right, but this should not be the reason to question democracy.

We have to look at Africa as whole and figure out the problem. to me it is embedded in the nucleus of a phew old men, like mukina said, who would rather hold a tight grip on political power, then see Africa move on and prosper like it should be doing.

coups do not solve anything. Is a revolution what Africa needs to combat this perpetual system of corruption and cheating?
maybe so maybe not. Then there is always the saying the future generations will make Africa better. My FOOT. In order for Africa to better it has to start NOW.

Josboy4life, I do understand her point,but we must never give up because elections are rigged in Africa.I do understand her frustrations.But, i strongly believe that there is no system that will hold truth in prison for ever.AS long there is opposition to all governments in Africa,there is always hope that changes will come.The only thing that scares me is a country with "democracy" and no opposition-One party state.
Even the old school politicians that thinks the political seats of power is theirs to hold to perpetuity, will eventually find out that it's not going to be the case for long.And the corrupt norms that makes election riggings to be possible will one day be minimized in African continental

JosBoy4Lif:

So you are attempting to say that a parliamentary system would be more adequate for \Africa?
This may be true inasmuch as the the rigging does not stem down to even the oppositional parties.

I actually believe that proportional parliamentary systems are better for all countries, not just for Africa. The rigging can and will happen regardless of which system is chosen, only in a proportional system, the 'loser' will still be represented. There's far more chance that the system cleans itself out that way. It's also a safeguard against the evil of redistricting and flawed counting systems.

JosBoy4Lif:

But yes this would be i wiser move so as to redistribute political power more evenly to other parties.
My only bone of contention is the level of conflict this system would cause between rival parties

There's far more chance of violence resulting from a non-proportional system. Conflict is the name of the political game, as long as it's non-violent and the rules of the game are adhered to and accepted by the participants, this shouldn't be problematic

nferyn You do raise some interesting points about the validity of parliamentary system. I think that this system works well when the majority of a nation is working towards a set objective. But if people hold different and entirely radical views, the conflict will definately escalate due to the division of powers. There will be no absolute and at times and absolute is required.

[b]imageman[/b When will this ideology suffice? many people have been talking things will change, democracy will become the rule. But when, my questions lies therein with a precise plan to mold Africa into the great continent it is.

JosBoy4Lif:

nferyn You do raise some interesting points about the validity of parliamentary system. I think that this system works well when the majority of a nation is working towards a set objective. But if people hold different and entirely radical views, the conflict will definately escalate due to the division of powers. There will be no absolute and at times and absolute is required.

In that case pillarisation is a possible solution. just look at the development of the parliamentary systems in Belgium and the Netherlands. Society was deeply divided on ideological grounds, yet they managed to have a functioning system of government

Interesting thanks for the read nferyn. I never knew the breakdown of the political scenes in such tiny countries such netherlands and belgium could be so complex yet organized.
This would be suitable fit for smaller countries in Africa, who do not have as many ethnic diversities to overcome or religious differences.
The language barrier is rididculous in a country like Nigeria. But differemt parties could infact instituitonalize these apparancies.
This could work, but at the same time the risk of segragation could arise

My whole political ideology of progress is this,the more political educated the citizens are the better the political landfield will be.Democracy in Africa is still young and it takes time to bring about a close perfection of a system.You must realize that most nations in Africa have never enjoyed a longevity of democratic rules.This has not been realized, because the military were dabbling into politics.I strongly believe that Africa will get her acts together.
As you must also know,the world strongest Democratic nations are not perfect .America ,which is the oldest democratic nation on the face of the earth cannot even claim to have a perfect system,and they have been at this for over two hundred years!One of our biggest problem why elections are rigged in Africa is prevalence of corruption that is ravaging through most nations.
I strongly believe that the day will come when most African Nations will elect leaders that will think of their citizens more than they think of their pockets,leaders that put the interest of their masses above their own selfish interests. And i believe that a politically educated society can bring about these changes.

Good points imageman, but america is not the oldest democracy

what hurts me the most is the way some of this our presidents behave

when they think they are tired of ruling or when the international community steps in.they choose someone as old as them to take over as their successor like its their personal property.

Josboy4life, America in theory is the oldest democracy,pratically they are not.They established the theories of democracy,but they did not follow it.In the beginnins only people with properties can vote,then all men,then white women were allowed to vote.Eventually,the voting rights of the 60's gave voting rights to the blacks.With these explanations, you are right to argue that they are not the oldest democracy.

Hey imageman,

Athenian democracy is the earliest well-documented democratic system, and the word democracy was coined in Ancient Greece in the 5th century BC
The first elected parliament was De Montfort's Parliament in England in 1265
Both Sourced from wikipedia.org

Josboy4life, thanks for the informations

ba magana wahala