Tanzanians most ‘democratically happy in EA’

Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians are the most satisfied citizens in East African on the basis of their perception of how democracy works in their country, a new report is showing. 

The report depicts the people of this country as being much more attached to democratic practices than they would do with other forms of political regimes.  According to Afrobarometer’s report entitled “Demand for Democracy is Rising in Africa, But Most Political Leaders Fail to Deliver,” Tanzanians are highly regarded as democracy adherents at 84 per cent.

They are ahead of Uganda (79), Burundi (74) and Kenya (73). Rwanda was not studied.

However, in Africa as a whole, the report puts Zambians (90), Senegalese (87) and Mauritians (85).

Afrobarometer is a cross-national survey managed by a network of African social scientists who measure public opinion on key political, social and economic issues of the day.

The reports says about 75 per cent of Tanzanians are satisfied with the way democracy is conducted. They are followed closely by Ghanaians at 74 per cent. The findings came almost two decades after Tanzanians told the Nyalali Commission that they preferred the one-party system.

“Since Tanzanians are below average in the rejection of one-party rule, they may well use a much less exacting democratic standard than Ghanaians,” the report says.

At the other end of the scale, citizens exhibit extremely low levels of satisfaction with democracy in places like Togo by 21 per cent, where a family dynasty dominates political life by suppressing opposition.

However, the overall the poll, conducted in 34 African countries, points to the gap in many countries between popular demand for democracy and the supply of democracy which is delivered by ruling elites.

It says that while ordinary Africans clamour for high-quality elections and leadership accountability, too many political leaders continue to manipulate the polls, challenge term limits, and even seize power by coup. In the most common pattern across the continent, popular demand for democracy exceeds the supply.

In those countries which democracy has taken root, the reports says, there is an institutionalised form of electoral democracy. The preference on democratic principles in Africa stands at 74 per cent.

In a survey conducted between 2011 and 2013, researchers at Afrobarometer found that most Africans prefer democratic government by 71 per cent while 11 per cent say that sometimes a non-democratic political regime is preferable. Some 18 per cent admit they either don’t know or don’t care, according to the research.

“So far, therefore, a deeply rooted demand for democracy apparently remains a minority public sentiment,” reads part of the report.

Regional-wise, it is the East Africans who top the list of democracy lovers with statistics showing that more than half of all adult citizens demand democracy (54 per cent) and a similar proportion also think it is being supplied (52).

A case can be made that, on average, political regimes are relatively more democratic in the East African region than in other parts of Africa.

“But the level of democracy is intermediate at best…and because demand and supply are in rough equilibrium there are few pressures for further regime change in either a democratic or autocratic direction.”

In Southern Africa the survey reports a similar pattern with supply being at 46 per cent and demand at 47 per cent, which is a rough equilibrium, but at an even lower level than in East Africa. 

Despite Ghanaian’s highest score in democratic acceptance, many people in West Africa are democratically hungry with about 51 per cent of the population in need of it but get they get it at a lower rate of 42 per cent.

In North Africa, levels of both demand and supply are low, making the region the least democratic in Africa. In early 2013, when the Afrobarometer surveys in North Africa were conducted, demand lagged behind supply, which suggests that much of the popular energy behind the Arab Spring has dissipated. “One might therefore expect the reconsolidation of hard democratic regimes in this region,” says the report.

However, Tanzania political analysts think that there is still a long way for the satisfaction being talked about on the part of the Tanzanians to be real.

NCCR–Mageuzi politician and MP for Kigoma South, Mr David Kafulila, disputes the findings, saying that the way the election process in Tanzania has been conducted casts doubt to most voters leaving the shadow of illegitimacy. “The findings depend very much on the methodology that was applied…but it is my general views that it can’t be,” Mr Kafulila said.

According to him, history shows that there have been a number of political disputes after every election, citing the many petitions as an example of how the democratic processes haven’t been too good in Tanzanian.

He agrees with the report that because elites in these countries enjoy a great deal of room for policy manoeuvre, any political change is likely to emanate from authorities.

In countries like Tanzania, Afrobarometer reports, elites enjoy a great deal of room for policy manoeuvre and because of that any political change is likely to emanate from those in power. Dr Audax Kweyamba of the University of Dar es Salaam’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration, agrees, saying that the ruling elite has enjoyed enormous power that even dictate the democratic space in the country.

“We need a mileage ahead before reaching such verdicts as Afrobarometer have done…there is a lot to be done,” the lecturer said.