Beyond Liberal Democracy: The Quest for Indigenous African Models of Democracy for the Twenty-First Century

 

DATES: Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23^rd May, 2017

 

TIME:

Monday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

VENUE: Mini Lecture Room 5, fourth floor, University Towers, Main Campus, University of Nairobi, Kenya

 

ORGANISERS: The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of the University of Nairobi, Kenya and the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP), Washington, DC, U.S.A.

 

Background

Democratisation in post-colonial African states has met with a multiplicity of challenges, chiefly the subversion of the liberal democratic independence constitutions through self-serving constitutional amendements by civilian governments as well as through the setting aside of constitutions by military regimes. What is more, there is growing evidence that the second generation liberal democratic constitutions that have emerged on the continent from the last two decades of the twentieth century are also being subverted through similar processes. Thus a number of scholars now speak about “the failure of democracy in Africa”. However, others contend that what has failed in Africa is liberal democracy rather than democracy as such. They hold that liberal democracy, with its emphasis on the pre-eminence of the freedoms of the individual above communal responsibilities, is alien to the continent and therefore doomed to fail as often as it is tried.

 

Consequently, the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of the University of Nairobi in collaboration with the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP) is organising a two-day international conference to evaluate democratisation in Africa.

 

Focus

The papers will address the following three questions and any other related ones:

1.      Is democracy universally applicable, or does it require adaptation to cultural realities?

2.      To what extent has the adoption of Western liberal models of democracy hindered democratisation in post-colonial African states?

3.      How can indigenous African political thought be utilised in the endeavour to design models of democracy that are suited to the socio-cultural realities of post-colonial African states?

 

Programme

 

Conference Chairs:

 

Dr. Reginald M.J. Oduor, University of Nairobi

and

Dr. Hu Yeping, Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP)

 

 

Conference Programme

 

 

Opening Ceremony

22^nd May, 2017, 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Reginald M.J. Oduor

Time	Speaker
8:00-8:50 a.m.	Registration
9:00-9:05 a.m.	Remarks by Dr. Oriare Nyarwath, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Nairobi
9:05-9:10 a.m.	Remarks by Dr. Hu Yeping, Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP)
9:10-9:15 a.m.	Remarks by Prof. S.I. Akaranga, Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Nairobi
9:15-9:20 a.m.	Remarks by Prof. Peter Wasamba, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Nairobi
9:20-9:30 a.m.	Remarks by Prof. Enos Njeru, Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nairobi
9:30-9:55 a.m.	Speech by Prof. Peter M.F. Mbithi, Vice-Chancellor, University of Nairobi
9:55-10:00 a.m.	Vote of thanks by Dr. Wamae Muriuki, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Nairobi
10:00-10:30 a.m.	Tea break

Session 1

Critique of Liberal Democracy in Africa (1)

 

Monday 22^nd May, 2017, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Chair: Dr. Oriare Nyarwath, University of Nairobi

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
10.30am-10.50am	Prof. J.N.K. Mugambi, University of Nairobi, Kenya	A Critique of Notions of Democracy as Applied in the Twenty-first Century
10.50am-11.10am	Prof. Jack Anselm Odhiambo, University of Nairobi, Kenya	Who are the “People” in a Democracy?
11.10am-11.30am	Dr. Hu Yeping, Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, U.S.A.	Democracy and the Common Good
11.30am-11.50am	Dr. Dennis Masaka, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe	Colonialism and the Challenge of Western-style Democracy in Africa
11.50am-12.10pm	Prof. Winnie V. Mitullah, University of Nairobi, Kenya	Liberal Constitutional Democracy Deficit in Africa: Interrogating Opportunities and Challenges
12.10pm-12.30pm		Discussion
12.30pm-1.30pm		Lunch break

 

 

 

Session 2

Critique of Liberal Democracy in Africa (2)

 

Monday 22^nd May, 2017, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Chair: Dr. Emmanuel Ifeanyi Ani, University of Ghana

 

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
1.30pm-1.50pm	Prof. Sirkku K. Hellsten, The Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden	African Political Ideology and Practice in the Era of Globalization: From Communitarian Socialism to Authoritarian Neo-liberalism - The Next Steps?
1.50pm-2.10pm	Mr. David Jesse Oduor, Advocate of the High Court of Kenya	The Fallacy of Liberal Democracy in Africa
2.10pm-2.30pm	Mr. David-Ngendo Tshimba, Makerere University, Uganda	The Pitfalls of Liberal Democracy: Lessons from Electioneering in Democratic Republic of the Congo
2.30pm-2.50pm	Dr. Munamato Chemhuru, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe, and University of Johannesburg, South Africa	The Quest and Limits of Liberal Democracy in Post-Colonial Africa: An appeal to the Communitarian Model
2.50pm-3.10pm	Prof. J.P. Odoch Pido, The Technical University of Kenya	A Design Perspective on Democracy and Democratic Models
3.10pm-3.30pm		Discussion
3.30pm-4.00pm		Tea break

Session 3

Critique of the Quest for Africa-Specific Models of Democracy

 

22^nd May, 2017, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

Chair: Dr. Jacinta Mwende Maweu, University of Nairobi, Kenya

 

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
4.00pm-4.20pm	Prof. Edward Wamala, Makerere University, Uganda	The Rule of Law versus the Rule of Good men (Philosopher Kings): A Classical Solution to a Contemporary Problem
4.20pm-4.40pm	Ms. Robinah S. Nakabo, Makerere University, Uganda	Gender Sensitive Followership and Leadership in Africa: the case of Uganda
4.40pm-5.00pm	Dr. Donna K. Pido, The Technical University of Kenya	Democracy as Falsehood: Seek But Do Not Expect to Find
5.00pm-5.20pm		Discussion

 

Session 4

Indigenous African Models of Democracy (1)

 

23^rd May, 2017, 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Chair: Dr. Wamae Muriuki, University of Nairobi, Kenya

 

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
8.30am-8.50am	Mr. Kisemei Mutisya (United States International University, Kenya) and Dr. Joseph Situma (University of Nairobi, Kenya)	Tentative Elements of African Indigenous Models of Democracy
8.50am-9.10am	Dr. Khondlo Mtshali, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	Consensual Democracy and the Expansion of the Mind
9.10am-9.30pm	Dr. Jacinta Mwende Maweu, University of Nairobi, Kenya	From Liberal to Consociational democracy: Which way for Africa?
9.30am-9.50am	Dr. Siphetfo N. Dlamini, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	Ake's Model of Consociational Democracy: A New Perspective of a Holistic Development in Africa
9.50am-10.10am	Dr. Emefiena Ezeani, Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Nigeria	Cooperative Collegial Democracy: An Alternative African Context-relevant Political Model
10.10am-10.30am		Discussion
10.30am-11.00am		Tea break

 

Session 5

Indigenous African Models of Democracy (2)

 

23^rd May, 2017, 11:00 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.

Chair: Prof. Edward Wamala, Makerere University, Uganda

 

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
11.00am-11.20am	Dr. Francis Chigozie Ofoegbu, Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Nigeria	Democracy in Africa: the Need for the Practice of Universal Communalism
11.20am-11.40am	Dr. Solomon Ochepa Oduma-Aboh, Kaduna State University, Nigeria	Communalism as an Authentic Basis for an Enduring Democracy in the Twenty-first Century Nigerian Society
11.40am-12.00noo	Dr. Emmanuel Ifeanyi Ani, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana	The Traditional Roots of Democratic Verbal Discipline
12.00pm-12.20pm	Dr. Moses Oludare Aderibigbe, The Federal University of Technology, Nigeria	Democracy and the Right of the Minority in Africa
12.20pm-12.40pm		Discussion
12.40pm-1.40pm		Lunch break

 

 

Session 6

Indigenous African Models of Democracy (3)

 

23^rd May, 2017, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Chair: Prof. Winnie V. Mitullah, University of Nairobi, Kenya

 

Time	Presenter	Title of Paper
2.00pm-2.20pm	Dr. Reginald M.J. Oduor, University of Nairobi, Kenya	In Defence of Ethnically-based Federations in Post-Colonial African States, with Special Reference to Kenya
2.20pm-2.40pm	Dr. Tayo Raymond Ezekiel Eegunlusi, Federal University of Technology, Nigeria	Critical Reflections on Africans’ Consideration of a (Monolithic) Democratic Alternative to Liberal Democracy
2.40pm-3.00pm	Prof. Dan Chitoiu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania	Reconsidering Hierarchy: Justice and Responsibility in an Alternative Social Scenario
3.00-3.20pm	Dr. Thomas Menamparampil, Guwahati, Assam, India	Strengthening Indigenous Values to Facilitate the Emergence of Suitable Forms of Democracy
3.20pm-3.40pm		Discussion
3.40pm-3.50pm	Dr. Hu Yeping, Council for Research in Values and Philosophy	Closing Remarks
3.50pm-4.00pm	Dr. Reginald M.J. Oduor, University of Nairobi	Closing Remarks

 

 

 

Kenyan Middle Class: You Cannot Afford to Ignore Party Primaries - Get Deeply Involved in Them!

The middle class is that group of people mainly comprising of professionals - medical doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, high school teachers, university lecturers, high level computer programmers, among others. Members of this group usually have at least one university degree or a prestigious diploma in some highly sought after area of expertise. They are neither very poor nor very rich. They are better off than the farm hands in rural Kenya, or the urban poor such as the artisans who eke out a living in jua kali sheds or in the go-downs of Nairobi’s industrial area.

Yet the compound term “middle class” is quite imprecise - quite elastic - as it is used to refer to people who can hardly get by with their monthly salaries to others who hold considerably well-paying jobs that enable them to go for a few holidays in plush resorts within the country and even overseas. What is common to all members of the middle class is that they do not own substantial assets in the form of land, houses and factories. Many live in homes that they are struggling to make their own through mortgage, a few have homes they can truly call their own, while many live in rented accommodation. This has led to categories such as upper middle class, middle middle class and lower middle class. Some people prefer to refer to this class by the French term bourgeoisie, but this term can be misleading, as it is used in Marxist theory to refer to the Western urban middle class that hastened the breakdown of Western feudalism and became the owners of the means of production in the capitalist society that emerged thereafter.

The foregoing is a layman’s definition of “middle class”, as a more precise definition should be expected from an economist, and I am not one. Yet the philosopher, the chemist, the historian, the mechanic, the sweeper and the so-called “mama mboga (small-scale green grocer)”, and everyone else has a right to comment on economic policies because they have a direct impact on his/her life. In the eighth chapter of his Practical Philosophy, the Late Prof. H. Odera Oruka made a helpful distinction between positive economics and normative economics, the former being the domain of those who have studied economics in an institution of higher learning, the latter the right of anyone wishing to reflect on the ethical standards that guide economic policy; so I gave my definition above from the point of view of normative economics.

My concern here is with the attitude of most members of the Kenyan middle class towards what we have come to call, imitating Americans, “party primaries” - the process by which political parties determine which of their members will receive party tickets to run for positions in an election. During the most recent American presidential elections, many wondered how the U.S. ended up with two quite elderly persons as contenders for the top job. One answer that was given was the apathy of the middle class during party primaries. In our case, many often wonder how political parties end up with persons with very little school education and often with a scandalous public ethic as candidates, and part of the answer is that many members of the middle class do not come out to campaign or vote during party primaries.

Why do many members of the Kenyan middle class stay away from this important exercise, where, in some cases, winning the party ticket is tantamount to winning the seat? One of the reasons is the chaotic nature of the exercise, where goons are hired to force specific results through ballot stuffing, intimidation, or even outright violence. I suspect that in the comfort of their homes, members of the middle class hope that the goons in support of their preferred candidates will have the upper hand. My suspicion is partly informed by the fact that during the 2007/2008 post-elections crisis, I heard members of this class who were discontented with the declared results celebrating the violence in the slums, but of course they themselves were not to be found anywhere near the railway that was being uprooted or the crude road blocks set up by the irate slum dwellers.

Let the truth be told: many members of the Kenyan middle class love comfort but fear taking risks in pursuit of comfort. They love to reap where they have not sowed, as illustrated by the way they took over government at independence despite not having gone to the forest to pressurise the colonisers into taking their leave; they were nowhere to be seen during the saba saba riots in the early 1990s, but have been quick to occupy the lucrative offices that have come with the expanded political space; they avoid voting at party primaries, but are the first to “reconnect” with victorious former school and college mates in order to get a share of the state largesse that comes with such positions.

On election day, many members of the middle class wake up late like they would do on a weekend, put on their "smart casual" wear, have their BEST (bacon, egg, sausage and toast) breakfast (if they can afford it), and then take a leisurely walk or drive to the polling station, all the while hoping that they can cast their ballots and get home without encountering any ugly scene. Once back home, they glue their eyes on the TV, particularly once the counting of ballots begins. What they fail to realize is that by having been absent during the party primaries, they had allowed the final results of the general elections to be predetermined to a considerable extent without their input.

 In the third chapter of his celebrated work, The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon points out that the middle class in Colonial African states failed to play its role in the struggle against colonialism: “It so happens that the unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps.” Fanon went on to assert that this class is plagued by intellectual laziness and spiritual poverty. In addition, he wrote that “In its beginnings, the national bourgeoisie of the colonial countries identifies itself with the decadence of the bourgeoisie of the West. We need not think that it is jumping ahead; it is in fact beginning at the end. It is already senile before it has come to know the petulance, the fearlessness or the will to succeed of youth.”

Early this year, and two days before her untimely death, the late young and truly beautiful Dr. Eunice Songa-Saraceno wrote an article which she titled “A CALL TO ACTION: Wake up Middle and Upper Class Kenyans! – The New Mau Mau Revolution”. In it she passionately urged the Kenyan middle class to get out of its comfort zone and to be agents of positive change (see https://thenewmaumaurevolution.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/a-call-to-action-wake-up-middle-and-upper-class-kenyans ).

Kenyan middle class: you have college education; you have access to some finance; your world has been broadened beyond imagination by your access to the Internet; you have massive social capital in the college and professional networks that you have formed over the years; many of you have some speaking and writing skills; you have access both to the poor who look up to you for assistance to meet their most basic needs, and you have access to the high and mighty who use your professional skills in their pursuit of self-actualisation. All this intellectual and social capital places you in a unique position to contribute to positive change in the social, economic and political life of our country, but you are under-utilising it. Instead, you prefer to spend your time eating out in “classy” places, buying toys (the latest mobile phones, state of the art cars, home theatres, town houses and country resorts, etc.), and crafting ways of amassing more cash, all the while abandoning your country’s politics to the basest of society. Get up and get involved in party primaries - campaign for your preferred candidates through your diverse networks and media, and show up to vote for them. If you are scared of goons at the polling stations, pool resources to hire security for the all-important exercise; after all, you do that for other ventures that you deem worthwhile. Only in this way will the poor masses benefit from your college education in which they have invested so much. Only in this way might we transform our politics into the civil affair that it ought to be. In this way we might even get election results that are so decisive that the vanquished side, whichever one it turns out to be, will have no option but to accept them and save us the kind of upheavals that are becoming characteristic of our elections. Yet in this final paragraph I am out of order on one point - I should say “we”, not “you”!

 

Reginald M.J. Oduor, Ph.D.