George Ngwane

Anatomy of the Dominant Party System in Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

Entry
When the majority of African people went up in arms against one party rule in Africa in the early 90s, it was to expand democratic space and provide alternative voices that would impact on a sustainable democratic development.  That hunger for change was orchestrated against the backdrop of a lethargic mono-party culture whose fossilized dictatorial architecture had metamorphosed into one man high handed rule even if in some cases it bred positive economic growth. To avoid the pendulum of power from oscillating between civilian anarchy and military tyranny, a new dispensation was jettisoned to allow for popular access to power and equitable distribution of the country’s resources.

Election-related Conflicts in Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Conflicts during elections, especially at the Presidential level in Africa, have become a special trademark. 
 

Because of the centralized systems of governance where power, perks and prestige are accumulated at the helm of state, conflicts may occur before, during and after elections depending on the content and context against which they are held.

Prodemocracy Movements and Affirmative Action Diplomacy in 2008

Mwalimu George Ngwane

Alexis de Tocqueville attributed the success of democracy to an unusual national propensity for civic engagement.  Recent empirical research in a wide range of contexts has confirmed that the norms and networks of civic engagement (now rebaptised “social capital”) can improve education, diminish poverty, inhibit crime, boost economic performance, foster better government and even reduce mortality rates.  Conversely, deficiencies in social capital contribute to a wide range of social, economic, and political ills.

One of the most important groups in the social capital or pro-democracy movement, according to Claude Ake, is the activist elements in civil society, which include the human rights lobby, minority rights groups, movements for the empowerment and participation of marginalized groups such as women and youth, students and labour the Church and the media.

The Opposition and their Performance of Electoral Power in Cameroon (1992 – 2007)

By George Ngwane

Introduction
The return to multiparty politics in Cameroon in 1990 was met with reluctance and resistance by the regime. Triggered by the events of 26th May 1990, that led to the defiant launching of an Opposition party (Social Democratic Front – SDF), multipartyism and eventually Opposition parties became institutionalized following the Law of Association of 19th December 1990 (Law No. 90/056).

In spite of this reform to accommodate multipartyism, the main kernel of democratic transition to put enabling structures in place evaded the political establishment in Cameroon.

Youths and Democracy in Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

This article originally appeared as a three-part serial essay in Eden Newspaper (February 7th,13th and 15th, 2007)

Part :  A Biographic Data of Youth Governance

Preamble
Language experts, psychologists and political observers would want to give the word ‘youth’ an elastic definition of. ‘Youth is a state of mind’. It is indeed such a blanket definition that has motivated political Methuselahs to stay in power in Africa even after their political menopause.

A memorandum on Participation of Independent Candidates in the Electoral Process in Cameroon

Submitted bythe Committee for the Participation of Independent Candidates in the Electoral Process in Cameroon

• "So far party – centered elections have only favoured an old generation that has monopolized the political arena in Cameroon. Independent candidature would therefore provide the young generation with the opportunity of bringing a new vision and fresh agenda to the body-politic of our country. Indeed Independent candidature is now regarded as an antidote to gerontocratic politics and a rite of passage to generational democracy."

Cameroon: Independent candidates as viable alternatives in the electoral process

By Ajong Mbapndah L (Originally published in AfricaFiles)

After more than a decade of elections generally believed to have multiple flaws, Cameroon seems to have embarked on an exercise to overhaul the electoral process. While this may just be another exercise in futility aimed at distracting attention or cajoling the international community, many however agree that there is need for vital reforms to be carried out ahead of municipal and legislative elections scheduled for 2007.

Mwalimu George Ngwane : Un antidote à la politique gérontocratique

Propos recueillis par Denis Nkwebo (Quotidien Mutations)

Dans le cadre de la réforme de la loi électorale, un Comité s’est constitué à Buea et milite pour la participation des candidats indépendants dans le processus électoral.

Benin: From Liberal to Social Democracy

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Benin is undeniably one of Africa’s most successful stories in liberal or electoral democracy. From 1990 when she became the first African country to institute a sovereign National Conference, Benin has continued to employ all innovative and endogenous democratic strategies that distinguish her from the continent’s identity of political insolvability. The solid foundation laid by the conference in February 1990 provided the Beninese people with a nationalistic vision that focused on the power of alternatives through the ballot box rather than the principle of self-perpetration through constitutional tinkering.

Threshing the Togolese Tangle

In the following Article, Mwalimu George Ngwane proposes three posible scenarios for resolving the current political crisis that has engulfed Togo following the death of President Gnassingbé Eyadema and the installation by the Togolese army of his 39-year-old son, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, as President, in violation of  the country's constitution: