Freedom and Its Implication for Guinea, West Africa
Is Africa the land of opportunity only for those in power, for those who have connections, or for every African?
This question cannot be effectively answered without understanding leadership in general, moderate and democratic-seeking leadership in Africa, the great-man theory-advocated by autocratic African leaders, and the innovative educational leadership in democracy must change Africa: a leadership democracy which will extol the virtues of human rights, equal employment and education opportunities for all and from all, and .freedom of speech, religions and associations.
This book is a case study about my life as it intertwines with my encounter with God, education, leadership, democracy, the people of West Africa, the people of Europe, Asia, South America, North America in general and my people in Guinea in particular. My life is a cultural rainbow of love and endurance from my village community, life and wisdom from God, intellectual confidence and well being from education, stability and order from democracy, wealth and endurance from North Americans, mystery and courage from Asians, joy and fertility from South Americans, intuition and maturity from Europe, peace and vitality from lower Guinea, beauty and wealth from middle Guinea, happiness and songs from upper Guinea and hope and discipline from Leadership. This cultural diversity has endowed my thoughts with the web of friendships whose threads have institutionalized my philosophy for life in education, democracy and leadership.
Hence, I do believe that I owe my life, my belief and education to the global community. However, in this book, I am going to prove the idea that leadership in Africa can and will change soon and very soon through education and democracy. Some African leaders still think that “leaders are born not made”, the concept of Great man theory. According to Plato (427-347 B.C.), there should be three unchangeable distinct classes “first the class of rulers (guardians in the narrower sense); second, the class of military and civilian executive aides (auxiliaries); third, the class of producers or handworkers.” The latter class being the masses of the people: eighty to about ninety-four percent of most African countries’ populations. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is happy to join with you and I today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of Africa.
First, the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975 doesn’t only have a mission to promote economic integration in “all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters …..”; but it also has the mission to promote “peace and stability for economic development and regional integration.”
Reference: Retrieved December 31, 2008 from http://www.comm.ecowas.int/sec/index.php?id=about_a&lang=en
Therefore, we, in the ECOWAS community, have to join together to made this mission a reality. This mission, as Dr. King argues is now “a great beacon light of hope to millions of [Africans] who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.” That is to say, we now have the bank bills of regional agreements to build democratic foundations in the ECOWAS community through genius elections free of crippling “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” This mandate of democratic protocol is the rectification and ramification of the 1999 peace and security protocol as a conflict management mechanism. “The need to therefore specifically address these issues called for a review of the 1999 peace and security protocol. The gaps identified in that protocol in tackling the problem of democratic transition through credible elections … Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and this was signed by the Heads of State and Government in 2001.”
From the content of this document, we no longer live, according to Dr. King, “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity, [nor are we] still languishing in the corners of [African] society” as if we were in “exile in [our] own land.”
The ECOWAS community has empowered its people to enforce democratic principles as follows:
The Principles of democratic elections.
These principles are specifically on elections. They are outlined in Section II, Article 2 – 10 of the Protocol.
The Constitutional Convergence Principles
The constitutional convergence principles are principles that, eventually, all ECOWAS member states are expected to incorporate into their legal systems and they include the following:
• Free, fair and transparent elections as the only legitimate means of accession to political power
• Zero tolerance of power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means
• Strict adherence to democratic principles
• Respect for human dignity and fundamental rights
• No discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion or region
• Freedom of recourse to a court of law to ensure the protection of rights
• Popular participation in decision-making
• Guarantee of the freedom of association and the right to peaceful demonstration
• Guarantee of press freedom
• Freedom to form a political party within the limits of law
• Prohibition of the formation or operation of a political party on the basis of ethnicity, race; religion or region
• The right of a political party to carry out its lawful activities and to freely participate in the electoral process
• Guarantee of the freedom of the political opposition
• The right of each member state to adopt a system of political party financing, in accordance with criteria set under the law
• Politically neutral armed forces (including the police) that operate under the command of a legally constituted political authority
• Prohibition of serving members of the armed forces from seeking elective political office
• Prohibition of all political activities and propaganda in barracks and within the armed forces
• The Principles of Democratic Elections
• These set of principles which are specifically on elections include the following:
• The Election Management Body (EMB) should be independent and neutral and should have the confidence of all the political actors
• No substantial modification should be made to the electoral laws during the last six (6) months before the holding of an election, except with the consent of a majority of the political actors
• Elections must be organized on the dates or at the periods fixed by the law
• Women have equal rights with men to vote and be voted for, and to hold public office at all levels of governance
• A reliable voters list must be produced, drawing upon a reliable register of births and deaths
• The voters list should be prepared in a transparent and verifiable manner, with the collaboration of the political parties
• The electorate should have access to the list of voters, whenever the need arises
• The preparation and conduct of elections and the announcement of results should be done in a transparent manner
• Adequate arrangements should be made to hear and dispose of petitions relating to the conduct of elections and the announcement of results
• Election-related civil society organizations should be involved in educating the public on the need for peaceful elections
• A candidate or party that loses an election should concede defeat in accordance with the law
• All holders of power at all levels should refrain from acts of intimidation or harassment against defeated candidates or their supporters (p. 5)
Reference: Retrieved December 31, 2008 from www.africanreview.org/events/paxafrica2008/evolverole.pdf
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