Reconsider Western democracy practice - lecturer urges African leaders
A research fellow in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Kaderi Noagah Bukari, has urged African countries to take a second look at the "Western Majoritarian Democracy" towards ending military takeovers of governments.
"It is not responding to the needs of the people, and, I think a better option could be 'Consensus-based Democracy,' where the majority and minority agree on issues for the common good of society," he said.
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Dr Bukari, who is also a lecturer at the School for Development Studies of the UCC, was commenting on the Sunday, September 5, military takeover in Guinea, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
Unacceptable
He said the coup d'état in Guinea was unacceptable, though expected.
That, he explained, was because the governance system was not addressing the needs of the people.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union, the United Nations Secretary-General, and some Western countries have condemned the coup and asked for immediate restoration of democratic rule.
Dr Bukari, however, said a "Consensus-Based-Democracy" would promote a win-win situation and present a bipartisan approach to addressing issues of unemployment and corruption.
"The worse democracy is better than the best coup; but if our leaders and politicians refuse to work together to solve the needs of the people, we will have more coups because the signs are all over and the whole place will become a fertile ground for terrorists,” he emphasised.
“Our people must be involved and must benefit from the democracy we choose," he said.
Predictable
He said the military had between six and 12 months to demonstrate it could use state resources to promote social welfare to change the negative narrative.
- GNA.