Democratic Governance in Africa: Myth or Reality?

If the strings of a guitar are too loose it will never produce the melody and if strings are also too hard it will cut. Therefore rulers and leaders should not rule with powers but with heart, though is important to rule with carrot and stick. It is true that democracy does not guarantee development but democratic principles can ensure sustainable development more so human development. We have witnesses that development by authoritarian leaders e.g. Libya are both not sustainable as their countries end up in rebellion and unresolved conflicts thereby destroying the infrastructure and endless wastage of human life. You can only become a warrior when you break the walls. Meaning you can only become a good and effective leader/ruler when you are able to convince your followers with your positive thinking, actions and result oriented mind for uplifting the living standards and protection of rights of your people. This calls for instituting strong and dynamic institutions for the state to function in a more effective and efficient manner. A leader without followers is a fish out of water. In other to ensure efficacious management of public resources, in 1998, countries like Rwanda conducted a general census of the civil servants particularly in the education sector. This was effective as ghost workers were identified and eliminated. In a similar move in August/September 2014, the Kenyan Government also instituted such a reform (Biometric system) to align the government structures and its human resource with the requirements of the constitution to eliminate corruption and ghost workers which is making the country to loose huge sum of money and this is geared toward strengthening the functions and responsibility of its decentralized structures. Surely all these efforts are to strive for sound democratic governance in their countries. This paper focuses more on issues related to Democratic Governance in Africa, the pros and cons of how Africa receives and perceive Democratic Governance and what next for our beloved Mama Africa