Africa must rethink democratic practices to address challenges — Prof Agyemang-Duah

Three decades after democratic reforms swept across Africa in the early 1990s, the continent must re-examine its democratic practices to address emerging challenges that threaten progress, observed Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah.

In an interview with Accra-based Joy News on Monday, July 1, the former United Nations Senior Governance Advisor said while principles of democracy like freedom and liberty are universally cherished, simply copying Western models is not enough.

"We were euphoric about the democratic changes that began in the early 90s, not just in Ghana but across the continent," Prof. Agyeman-Duah recalled.

“However, after 30 years of practising democracy, we face serious challenges that need to be addressed,” he added.

Some of the challenges he cited include leadership that is "insensitive to the people's needs" and fails to prioritize critical development issues.

"You have leadership that is insensitive to the people's needs; to certain critical development element that we need to address and you are not getting attention," the expert stated.

He argued that while the military once posed the main threat to democracy, current political practices on the continent now pose an even greater risk if left unreformed.

"In the early 90s, we feared the military would be the main threat to democracy. Today, it is our political practices that pose the greatest risk," Prof. Agyeman-Duah observed.

To address these challenges, he called for African countries to "inject new energy and vigour into our democratic processes" and "rethink how we practice democracy in Africa."