We are living in
a world where the majority of the electorate and the consumers or benefactors
of government policies are popularly known as the ‘born free’ generation. In
Sub-Saharan Africa this particularly refers to generations of young people born
after political independence. And young people constitute 70%[1]
of the region’s population, qualifying it as the youngest globally. The irony
of this is that young people remain the least represented and least active in
democratic processes across the continent. In the current context where
democracy is generally facing a decline in the continent, the youth generation is
blamed for lacking an understanding of political ideology, hence older
generations remain gatekeepers of political processes that shape the nature of
democracy in the continent.
I do not intend
to demean our political orientation but the way I have seen the unfolding of
African politics especially in the 21st century I would argue that our
politics is no longer rooted in any strong political ideology. As such, in the
absence of political ideology as a grounding force in a context where electoral
democracy takes precedence, I think ensuring human dignity and people’s freedoms
in totality should be the pivotal point of our politics. Here is why I think so:
Politics in
Africa in the 21st century has become a zero-sum game in which those
who control state power and its security machinery are driven by the desire to
continue holding on to power for personal benefit. Their continued hold on
power benefits them in numerous ways as follows; It gives them the power to
enjoy control and ownership of a nation’s economic resources; gives them
immunity from the countries’ judicial systems; helps them thwart the rights and
freedoms of ordinary citizens, to ensure the poor remain poor so that they feel
indebted to the politicians at the dangle of a once off carrot-the Stalinism approach to attract political
support of the poor. Above all, the bonus is for all these issues to help them stay
ahead of alternative political players, young people included. They do not care
about social rights and neither do they care about citizens’ political power outside
the ballot and their ability to keep them on check. The rampant levels of
corruption and approach to political power across the continent is a testimony
to how politics has become a zero-sum game. It is a politics that does not seek
to uphold any Ubuntu or democratic
value. As a result, majority of especially younger generations do not relate
with such a type of politics and that continues to fuel youth apathy in
polictical and democratic processes. For
young women, the political space becomes a no-go area as the political culture is
characterised by violence.
Faced with such
a reality, it is important that the young citizens of Africa take
responsibility to reclaim their power and chat the course of their countries
and what they stand for. And defending and promoting our values of Ubuntu that ensure human dignity, freedoms
and citizen agency in our societies should be the basis of our politics. Acknowledging
that democracy and respect for human rights and freedoms is no foreign concept
in the continent, but is really who Africans are, have always been and should
remain, as defined by the underlying concept of Ubuntu which unites Africa.
As the World
commemorates World Youth Day for Democracy, how young people should reclaim and
reposition themselves to restore democracy in Africa becomes the question
central to our challenge. The question
indeed presents young people with a huge task that requires a critical thought
process and reality check. First, I think that it is a question that requires
us the young citizens of Africa to take responsibility at a personal level.
Second it requires that those who are organising to defend and promote our
Ubuntu values of freedoms and human dignity critically reflect and challenge
our approach to such a political context.
As part of that
challenge to community organisers strategy it is key to ensure that we
challenge our own prejudices to avoid reinforcing the same oppression that we
are fighting against. We should ensure that as we struggle for democracy, our actions and spaces must encourage inclusivity of all young people, and resist from using violence as that discriminate young women in the process.
Young people need to be mindful of the rhetoric that
politics is a dirty game and need not forget our collective duty to shift that
mindset within ourselves as it fuels apathy and throws away our responsibility
to step up in the political arena and take charge to shape a political culture
that reinforces democracy, for our benefit and that of future generations to
come. The time to act on the challenge is now and young women and men should
start daring to occupy the political arena and strengthen our civil actions
towards reclaiming democracy. And taking lead in all fronts to steer the
continent towards its democratic future. It is #YouthNow , to guarantee the
future of Africa’s democracy by providing leadership today, the present matters!
