Q&A on Governance

When you look at Africa:

1.      What does good Governance Look Like?

Well, a lot of scholars and practitioners have tried to pin-point what ‘good governance’ is but the term itself is very indeterminate and means different things to different people. Suffice to say, governance in contemporary development language put simply refers to how public institutions conduct public affairs and administer public resources. For what ‘good’ governance looks like, probably we can characterize it by assigning a few basic tenets of what it ought to encompass, or what should be there for us to conclude that there is good governance.

While there are many notions or characteristics that are used to define good governance, I think the most important revolve around respect for the rule of law, accountability and how consensus-building is managed in the interests of the group or the nation. Other characteristics in my view subordinate to these basics and these will include but not limited to such notions as equity, participation especially in how the government or leadership is constituted and in setting the rules for such governance; basically here we talk about the constitution upon which a nation or group is governed. Directly linked to this is constitutionalism, where the constitution becomes supreme to everyone under it. Also important to good governance is responsiveness which is the cornerstone of effective and efficient leadership and service delivery.

2.      Does democracy lead to good governance?

Well, democracy is simply a system of government, whose key point is the involvement of the people (or the majority) in the constitution and conduct of a government. So in a way, if we look at the characterization we gave earlier on what constitutes good governance, loosely we can say democracy ‘can’ lead to good governance, but only when it is genuine democracy. I want here to emphasize the point on ‘genuine’ democracy because many a time, especially in contemporary Africa, there is worrying trend where elections are misconstrued to substitute for democracy, which in my opinion is wrong.  Elections alone do not guarantee democracy, and hence good governance. Actually, if we are to go back to the characterization we talked of earlier, you will find that democracy and good governance are actually reinforcing, in a ‘virtuous cycle’, where one can actually lead to the other. So yes, democracy can lead to good governance in much the same way that good governance can lead to democracy.

3.      What is the relationship between human rights and good governance?

Again, you will find that these two are mutually reinforcing, meaning we cannot really talk about one without the other. Human rights are what basically guide the conduct of governments or leadership in how they conduct public affairs and therefore dispense of public resources, equally for every member of the group or nation. Human rights define what we are and our needs and therefore are the premise upon which governments respond to these needs. And in responding to these needs, good governance dictates that these have to be met with equal and unbiased consideration of every member of the group, including those not yet born. This at least ensures that the conduct of governance in place is also sustainable in the very long term.

4.      Is good governance a prerequisite for development?

In Africa, as elsewhere, and particularly given the nature of our (colonial) past, good governance is definitely a prerequisite for development. I think the majority of scholars on our continent are in agreement and have proffered the ‘developmental state’ paradigm as a viable option in steering development for states on the continent. One of its key tenets is a strong interventionist government. However, such a government still needs to be democratically constituted so that it can be able to serve the interests of the majority. So here, government ought to respond to what the citizens or group members perceive as their priorities, and it is such responsiveness together with accountability that can ensure that where a government or leadership delivers according to the needs of the majority, it can be retained; and equally where it fails to deliver, it can be shown the door. It is only through good governance that we can begin to ensure that we establish inclusive political institutions, which in turn can support the establishment of inclusive economic institutions; once in place, these are mutually reinforcing and can ensure that we have sustainable development as a reality on the continent.

5.      What role can civil society play in promoting good governance?

Civil society stands to play a lot of important roles in promoting good governance, depending on the angle from which you look at. However, one of the key roles I see is how civil society ought to facilitate the strengthening of the agency of citizens to be active players and dictating the direction in which their governments or leadership move. Right from the setting out of groups rules, or constitutions, the citizens ought to have a genuine and free voice in the authoring of constitutions upon which their societies are governed. Secondly, citizens ought to have a genuinely free voice in how their governments are constituted or precisely how their leaders are elected. Thirdly, citizens ought to have quality agency to be able to hold their leaders to account. All this can be found in the work of various civil society actors. So essentially, it is not for civil society ‘actors’ to do this on behalf of the people, but rather the people having the agency to do it themselves. It is only the full participation of the citizens themselves that can ensure that we nurture into existence inclusive political and economic institutions that can support the development we all look forward to on the continent.

6.      When you look at the current state of democracy and governance, can you briefly compare it to the other regions in Africa?

The current state of democracy in Africa, though worrying, has actually improved over time. While there is a notable backslide in democracy across the globe, it is only in Africa where the back-slide has had a corresponding upsurge. Our biggest undoing has been how fellow African states often turn a blind eye to undemocratic rule in fellow and neighboring African countries, which unfortunately time and again gives western countries a pretext to interfere on the continent, which unfortunately as well, lays bare our precious resources to unfettered exploitation through such interference. We have a number of countries which have really set the bar for good governance and on the other end, some which have set a bar on the lower and opposite end as notorious dictatorships. Among the latter is a very dangerous group termed the competitive authoritarian regimes, which exude a semblance of democratic rule outside but are in essence and in reality autocratic states. These use democratic institutions and process to legitimize their rule but are in reality nothing more than predatory autocratic regimes. It is this later group and trend that leaders on our continent, in fact all relevant stakeholders should be working towards ridding the continent of these democratic pretenders.