Introduction
Politics is the relationship between the people and the government and involves activities that manage the government’s functions. Various governments have been in place even before the beginning of colonization in the Africa continent. The idea of government was introduced in Africa when the scramble and partition of Africa states by colonial masters like Britain, Spain, Portuguese, and Germans. Different communities in various African states used to have some form of government and it depended on community belonging in that area. Some communities were governed by kings i.e. Buganda kingdom in Uganda and the Zulu Kingdom in Southern Africa others were governed by a chief, like the Luo Kingdom in East Africa (Tordoff, 2000, p.3).
Thesis statement; Can politics in Africa be compared to the politics of the developed nations in the western countries.
Politics and Violence
Many political parties in Africa form government as a result of violence. The case is the government which is in Kenya is made up of three main political parties i.e. the ODM, ODM-K, and PNU. It was as a result of the violence that cause mass killings that contributed to forming a grand coalition. In the same year in Zimbabwe, the government was instigating violence in the opposition’s strongholds, as a result of violence millions of hectares of agricultural land belonging to people believed to be pro-oppositions. (Spiro, 2008, p.24).
Election Rigging
Most Africa leaders once they are in power, will not be able to leave the presidency even after their term has ended, they will continue to cling to power. Ways in which they are doing this is through the weakening of the Electoral process in their respective countries and some will try to change the constitutions to their favors that allow them to run for office even after their two terms have ended, an example is in Malawi. The president who has already served his two-term limit is one of the leading contenders in the coming general election. , this they have found ways in which to lengthen their stay in the top seat. Another presidential candidate will buy voters with money so that during the election they will be voted in (Kasfir, 1968, p.23).
Opposition Parties
Contrary to what the western media view opposition parties in Africa as to fighting for democracy in Africa, this is not true as they claim. Most of the political parties in Africa are formed as a result of fall out with the government due to their self-serving reasons, an example is in Kenya ODM and ODM-K parties were formed on the basis that memorandum of understanding was not followed when the members of parliament from all those parties that are in the coalitions were together. This memorandum entails equal distribution of ministerial seats in the cabinet (Frank, 2006, p.34).
Conclusion
The future of African people remains bleak with this type of political party they have in their respective countries. The politicians both from the government side and opposition side will continue using the ordinary citizen claiming they have the interests of electorates at heart, but the reality on the ground is that most politicians in Africa are hungrily eating the riches of their countries. In near future, in Africa countries, we will see many coalitions governments formed as a result of disagreements in Elections, but once this coalition is formed it will be business as usual; hyena like politics of eating and rewarding their cronies with top government jobs in state parastatals.
Reference List
Frank, H.C. (2006). Politics and economics of Africa. Lagos: Nova Publishers.
Kasfir, N. (1968). Politics in Africa: an introduction. Kampala: Milton Obote Foundation Publisher.
Spiro, H.J. (2008). Politics in Africa: prospects south of the Sahara. London: Prentice-Hall Publisher.
Tordoff, W. (2000). Government and politics in Africa. Indiana: Indiana University Press.