By Edward Acquah
Accra, July 7, GNA – A new report by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has found “worrying levels” of democracy capture in Africa.
The findings of the Democracy Capture (DECAM) Index Report, disseminated at a workshop in Accra on Monday, found that 60 per cent of agencies in ten studied African countries were experiencing some level of democracy capture by a perpetrator.
The Report measured the extent of democracy capture using a standardised assessment process in 370 institutions and agencies in Botswana, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Benin, Tanzania, and DR Congo.
The DECAM Report said state capture occurred when “a few individuals or sections of a supposedly democratic polity are able to systematically appropriate to themselves the institutions and processes as well as dividends of democratic governance”
Whereas Bostwana and Senegal recorded low levels of democracy capture (between 19 and 25 per cent), South Africa and Ghana recorded medium levels (between 28 and 35 per cent), with Nigeria and Mozambique recorded high levels of capture (between 66 and 71 per cent).
Kenya, Benin, Tanzania, and DR Congo recorded very high levels of democracy capture, with the countries rated between 76 to 100 per cent.
In most of the democracies examined (Benin, Dr Congo, Senegal, and Nigeria), the Report found that the Chief Executive (president) “is the key perpetrator” of democracy capture.
The Report said “no country should be considered immune” from democracy capture and recommended the design of appropriate tools to resist the phenomenon.
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Democracy and Development Fellow, CDD-Ghana, said perpetrators of democracy capture used the capture for five main purposes –tender limiting democracy, blocking reforms, covering up illegality, and implicating illegality.
“The democracies examined remain very vulnerable to continued or future capture by perpetrators. Even among democracies where agencies are not currently subject to capture, 56 per cent are deemed vulnerable to future and continued capture,” he said.
In the case of Ghana, Dr Osae-Kwapong said the country must explore institutions that were vulnerable to democracy capture and make policy reforms to strengthen those institutions against undue influence and control.
“Now that we are engaged in some constitutional reforms, it is an opportune time for us to see how best we can use this opportunity to address some of the things captured in this report,” he said.
Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director, Policy Engagement and Partnerships, CDD-Ghana, said the Report represented a deliberate intervention to counter democracy decline in Africa.
He called on civil society organisations and stakeholders to build solidarity to confront authoritarian rule in Africa.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey