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POLITICS-AFRICA: Constitutions Affirmed as Essential for Democracy

Ignace Fanou

COTONOU, Dec 16 2008 (IPS) - One of Africa's main challenges is ensuring that constitutions reflect a consensus amongst all sectors of the population, including vulnerable groups such as women, are rarely taken into account in constitutional strengthening initiatives.

The statement was made by experts who have been studying barriers in the democratisation process a number of African countries have gone through since the early 1990s. They met to discuss their findings at a conference in Benin's economic capital, Cotonou at the end of November.

"A number of internal conflicts arise when constitutions are imposed or imported from contexts that aren't in sync with local realities," declared Julia Dolly Joiner, political affairs commissioner with the African Union.

Addressing the challenges of constitutionality in Africa, experts noted that Africa has a rich history in constitutional strengthening initiatives and a number of useful cases in recent democratisation history.

"Since the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the last remnants of colonialism, most notably South African apartheid, a new dynamic appeared in a number of African countries calling for truly democratic governance that reflects the deepest aspirations of African peoples," highlighted Dolly Joiner.

"Today nearly all African countries are democratic, the opposite of the situation in the 1980s, when only a minority of African countries could be called democratic," she added.

However, the conference made suggestions towards greater gender equality and participation of women and other marginalized groups in constitutional processes.

Equality between men and women is stated as a founding principle of the African Union (AU) in Article 4 of its Constitutive Act. As a consequence, all member states must include the principle in their constitutions and ratify the AU Protocol on Women's Rights. Moreover, political parties must also enshrine the principle in their own constitutions.

Another important recommendation stresses that constitutions should strive for better distribution of power, organisation and control of the State via multi-party systems and free and transparent elections, so as to guarantee alternating access to state power.

Dr Sona Khan, an expert on the Indian constitution, expressed disappointment in politicians' inability to live up to the expectations of their constituents or their constitutions. "Constitutions are developed for citizens, not for leaders," she told IPS. "We must act for the good of the citizens, to win their trust and develop their pride in their countries and in their constitutions."

Experts also contend that constitutions should be adopted by citizens during regular, transparent and sincere referendums. Taking her own country as an example, Khan said that the Indian constitution has not been modified since it was adopted in 1950. Only a few articles were amended to reflect changes in society.

Benin's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Marie Ehouzou, agreed with the AU's approach which set governance and democracy standards for member states. "I'm calling on all the member state representatives to take advantage of this opportunity to reflect upon future actions towards strengthening integration and democracy on the continent," he declared.

"The constitution is no longer simply a legal document, but has become an essential tool in democracy promotion," Vidar Helgesen explained to IPS. Helgesen is the general secretary for International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance), one of the conference organisers. Highlighting the importance of participating in constitutional processes, Helgesen added that it is essential to the emergence of a "new constitutionalism".

The conference also suggests that all African nations sign and ratify the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in January 2007 in Addis Ababa during the 8th African Union Summit.

Moreover, participants advocated the creation of a Continental High Court that would deliberate on contested electoral matters as a last instance once every national avenue would have been exhausted.

For Désiré Adadja, Benin's Minister of Communication who stepped in for his colleague from Foreign Affairs during the closing session, the work accomplished at the summit reaffirmed constitutions as guarantors of democracy, stability, human rights and development.

"The conclusions and recommendations open encouraging horizons which offer the African Union opportunities to continue efforts made to improve constitutional provisions on the continent," he said.

Adadja added: "Legal protection of African constitutions has to become a reality across the continent and will be achieved via the respect of constitutional norms by political actors, civil society, national armies, jurisdictions and the whole of African citizens to avoid, as much as possible, anti-constitutional changes on the continent."

"We're determined to do everything possible to ensure that gains are not only preserved, but strengthened," AU's Dolly Joiner declared, while adding: "We're planning on allocating, over the coming five years, 15 million euros towards developing democratic governance that respects local particularities."