05 Jul 2022

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi officially opens the International Summit on Constitutionalism and Democratic Consolidation in Africa, this morning.

The summit, aptly hosted by Africa’s longest and continuous multiparty democracy in Botswana, will be looking to emphasise one main message to Africa and the world: Democracy works.

Aimed at consolidating democratic principle and governance, the summit will, among others, endeavour to come up with credible ways of cultivating better democratic outcomes for Africa, according to the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Regional Director- Southern and Eastern Africa, Mr Dickson Omondi. He was speaking in an interview with BOPA ahead of the three-day summit, which Botswana is co-hosting with NDI.

“Democracy is an important instrument of fostering political competition and ensuring that ordinary people have a voice in how they are governed,” he said. 

Mr Omondi added research carried out by institutions such as Afrobarometer had shown that the majority of Africans believed improved democratic governance could improve their livelihoods and bring restore dignity. 

He said the seminar would feature a series of panel discussions on issues such as women’s political leadership in Africa, African youth and politics, constitutional rule and presidential term limits. 

“This seminar builds on an earlier one which was held in Niamey, Niger, which also focused on constitutional term limits, followed by the 2021 Global Summit, and we seek to engage various stakeholders in the democratic process in Africa to foster conversations in order to bring about changes to improve governance in the continent,” Mr Omondi said. That the summit was held in Botswana, was testimony to the country’s commitment to the principles of good governance and the rule of law, said NDI Senior Associate for Africa, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh. 

He said while many African countries that became independent in the 1960s had experimented with one party state systems, Botswana took a clear route to democracy. 

So steadfast was the country in its belief in democracy that by the end of the 1980s only Botswana, Mauritius and the Gambia were the only African states with multiparty democratic systems. “It was only in the 1990s that we saw a wave of democratisation, but we still had the challenges of poorly managed electoral systems, rigging, authoritarianism, corruption and attempts to cling on to, [which is] something we want to work on,” said Dr Fomunyoh. 

He expressed gratitude to the government of Botswana for hosting the seminar. Besides Dr Masisi, presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Hage Geingob of Namibia and Jose Maria Pareira Neves of Cape Verde will attend virtually, as will United States Under-Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Ms Uzra Zeya.

 Former heads of state expected to participate include Dr Festus Mogae of Botswana, Dr Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, Ms Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic and Mr Nicephone Dieudonne of Benin. 

The NDI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan American-based organisation that works with stakeholders to improve democratic standards in developing institutions covering areas such as citizen participation, elections, debates, governance, political inclusion, accountability, elevating marginalised groups and gender parity. ENDS