Democracy in Africa is Like a Flashlight without Batteries.

• Author: Wentling, Mark G.

American Diplomacy

May 1, 2022

www.americandiplomacy.org

Title: Democracy in Africa is Like a Flashlight without Batteries

Author: Mark G. Wentling

Text:

Promoting democracy has been a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy for decades. This has been true for the dozen U.S. missions in which I have served in Africa over the past half century. Unfortunately, my experiences have left me doubtful about the results achieved by the hundreds of millions of dollars the U.S. has invested to promote democracy in Africa.

I arrived in 1970 as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, West Africa. In my village, I learned that you obeyed the chief's decisions no matter how illogical they might be. I also learned that it was considered impolite to criticize any of the chief's decisions. Today it is still best to obey the chief, although he is now influenced by the central government.

The overriding concern of the chief and his representative council of elders was to maintain a peaceful and stable environment, acknowledging that no progress could be achieved without stability. As central government influence increased, local leaders offered their support in return for new schools, water wells and health clinics. The goal of this tribute system of "patronage governance" was not democracy but justice, a concept embedded in the local culture while "democracy" was an imported notion.

Presidential elections were held in Togo in 1972. There was only one candidate, the incumbent president. The chief in my village had received instructions from the capital that every adult in the village had to vote. You could either vote yes or no. The "yes" voters had to go to the boys' school and have their thumbs dipped into blue indelible ink. Those who dared to vote "no" cast their votes at the girls' school and their thumbs were dipped in red indelible ink. Stories abounded about how the few who voted "no" were beaten by ruffians hired by Togo's only political party.

Politics Brings Wealth

I agreed with many Africans that involving yourself in local politics was folly. Yet, much wealth was accumulated by those who rose to the top of the political pyramid. Sometimes it was a family affair. I played tennis with a former minister of rural development. He had only served for eight months. When I expressed sympathy for his short tour as a minister. He replied, "That's okay. Eight months was enough."

Later I learned that eight months was enough to enrich himself. Culturally, stealing from another person was abhorred but stealing from the government was all right. When I was in Niger with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the late 1970s, I had to constantly interrupt people when they referred to...