A research has shown that there was an increase in support for multiparty democracy in Africa between 2002 and 2015.
According to a finding by Afrobarometer, majority of Africans say they feel close to a political party and believe that multiple political parties are needed to give voters a genuine chance.
However, in spite of the increase in support for multiparty system, both ruling and opposition parties on the continent still struggle to gain popular trust of the citizens.
The findings conducted in 36 African countries show that less than half of the respondents – 46% say they trust ruling parties while 36% of them say they trust opposition parties “a lot or somewhat”, placing political parties at or near the bottom of a list of institutions and leaders in popular trust.
These findings, based on 2014/2015 surveys in 36 African countries, were shared by Afrobarometer Executive Director, E. Gyimah-Boadi, at a consultative workshop of the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission’s Political Party Programme in Accra.
It shows that almost two-thirds (63%) of Africans endorse multiparty competition as essential to give citizens choices in who governs them. “North Africa is the only sub-region where fewer than half (49%) of citizens hold this view”, the findings indicated.
According to the research, across 16 countries tracked since 2002, support for multiparty democracy has increased by 11 percentage points.
“A majority (56%) of Africans say they “feel close to” a political party in their country. Across 16 countries tracked since 2002, this proportion increased by 7 percentage points between 2002 and 2015”.
Interestingly, the findings indicate that across 16 countries tracked since 2002, trust ratings improved by 18 percentage points for opposition parties but only marginally – 4 points for ruling parties.
Individually, Cote d’Ivoire leads the way with support for multiparty democracy with as many as 82% of the respondents favoring it.
Ghana is in the 18th position with 69% of the respondents showing their support for multiparty democracy. The average support for the system stood at 63% and Swaziland had the lowest support for multiparty democracy – 31%.
The findings also show that religious leaders have the highest trust among the people (72%), followed by the army (64%) and traditional leaders had 61% trust of the people.
Ruling parties, tax departments and opposition parties sit at the foot of the chart with 46%, 44% and 36% trust respectively.
“Political parties are an essential element of a well-functioning democracy, but earning popular trust – and thus greater legitimacy and better prospects for a country’s democratic consolidation – remains a challenge,” Mr. Gyimah-Boadi observed.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak