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GUARDIAN
Western Democracy Bane Of Africa's Development, Scholars Say
FROM TONY OKEREGBE, CAPE COAST, GHANA
Imposition of western model of democracy on Africa and the absence of proper education about Africa's history and culture have been identified as major factors responsible for the problems of governance on the continent.
This was the position of the communique of a sub-regional conference on "Philosophy and Governance" held at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, during the week.
According to the communique, participants, who were drawn from Nigeria, Ghana and the United States, identified internal contradictions in liberal democracy as practised in the west, and as being propagated across the globe by the western powers.
Said the communique: "Participants argue that liberal democracy, which the western culture has imposed on Africa and other Third World countries, has inherent contradictions both in theory and in practice. While it talks of a government that is people-centred, the history of the concept has undergone so much mutation, that what it presents in practice is nothing but a government of the elite."
It went further to state that participants were of the view that: "There exist no necessary connection between, development - be it human, infrastructural or otherwise- and the practice of liberal democracy."
On the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the communique stated that though the reasons for the setting up of NEPAD are not new, executing its recommendations would spell doom for Africa, owing to flawed aspects of the proposal.
"While the sentiments behind the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) are noble, in that they express the all too familiar predicament of Africa and the African in the globalisation process, the means and mechanisms prescribed by NEPAD to put Africa on the path of sustainable development are nonetheless injurious to the well-being of the African people," the communique stated.
It based this view, among other things, on "non-feasibility of the long-term goals of NEPAD", "inconsistencies and vagueness in the use of terms", "the disproportionate powers relations between the developed world and the African countries", on which the execution of the NEPAD prescriptions are founded. It also fingered "the poor African leadership which is subservient to the west", and the absence of a "necessary connection between the theories of development and the practice of liberal democracy".
To address the problem of governance, the communique urged African leaders to look inwards for guidance, by exploiting the indigenous systems of governing society.
"Looking within entails a cognitive restructuring of the African," it stated. "It involves having a sense of history about one's African civilization and culture, as well as the ability to draw from the rich repertoire of African indigenous system of governance."
This also involves a conscious and deliberate attempt on the part of the African to be educated in the true meaning of the word.
"While literacy and exposure to western culture and civilisation are what pass for education in today's parlance. Education, as the ones Africa needs, means being an integrated person - one who possesses a knowledge of his African milieu, culture and civilization, one who possesses skills for personal development and service to one's community, one who is morally upright and accountable to his society," the communique said.
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