Dictatorship in Africa
The early 20th century was marked by the development of several dictatorships, Western Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Africa, some countries have summers or are still run by men with evocative names like Kaddafi in Libya, and Mobutu in Congo ex Zaire. Dictatorship has several causes and also consequences, but there are also some solutions to fight this scourge.
Dictatorship is a political system that almost always involves tyranny because it is directed by one man or sometimes a small group who hold all the powers: judicial, legislative and executive. Dictatorship is established and maintained by violence with the support of the army (coup or civil war). There are several causes for dictatorship in Africa. The first cause is the economic. When the people do not have jobs, they follow someone who can help them. For example we have Kaddafi who became president after economic crisis in Libya, and then he became a dictatorship and controls everything in the country of Libya. The second cause of dictatorship is the bait of gain. Some people just want power and they take it by force. It is the case of Mobutu, who just took power in Congo. He get help of some Europe’s countries. He was a dictatorship very cruel; and he was drinking the blood of people. Another cause of dictatorship is the inefficiency of parliaments. The countries under a command of a dictatorship does not have a real parliament because all the power is in the hands of the president can do whatever he wants; nobody can stop him or has the right to say something against him. That is why Omwanawomuntu T a magaging director in Uganda (2011) says” Most of the African problems are attributed to the inability of parliaments in Africa to play their role within the principles of the doctrine of separation of powers. They are easily compromised by the Executive in their respective countries.” Yet another cause why there is still dictatorship in African is illiteracy. People do not know they can change the president have right to change him during the next election. In Burkina Faso, eighty percent of the populations do not how to read or write, so they do know their rights and it easy for the dictatorship to do what he wants. We should not forget also that some rich countries help the dictatorship to stay president in their country because these people help them to get what they want or to make money. The video of elf corruption show how the government of France country helped dictatorship in return for gaz.in this video, leadership of Elf help many rebels with money to fight the presidents we did not follow what they want. For example, they help the dictatorship Denis Sassou Nguesso Zeized in Congo to become president during a bloody civil war in 1997.
Dictatorship has many consequences. First of it has an impact in the economy. Dictatorship also means corruption because the people close of the dictatorship can do whatever they want. This can lead a lot of problems to the economy. For example, people who are around the president do not have to pay taxes because they know the president, and if you do not do what they want, they can make you lose your job. Dictatorship in Africa steal the money they borrowed from the big money institution like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is people who need to pay the loan back. Alemayehu G. Mariam professor of political science at California State University (2009) says “in 2006, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who faced impeachment for corruption and ineptitude, declared at an African civic groups meeting in Addis Ababa that African leaders ‘have stolen at least US$140 billion from their people in the decades since independence”. The second consequence, there is no freedom for the people. The media cannot relate the really story because the dictatorship, his relatives and his friends can kill their critics. For example, Norbert Zongo a journalist from the Independent and his friends (an independent newspaper of Burkina Faso) were killed because he said what the brother of the president, the government and also his relatives were doing. Another consequence of the dictatorship is the impact on society. The injustice can brings some revolution in the society. Revolution means populations fighting the government or the army. The result is the death of many people who will try to fight for the justice. It was the case in Tunisia where people fight the dictatorship Ben Ali in 2011; many people died in this year even if the dictatorships resign.
To fight dictatorship, people should know their rights, but first the level of illiteracy should be reduced. People should know they have the right to claim their rights. The country does not belong to one person and his family; the country and all his resources belong to the citizens. Also, world organizations and the United Nations (UN) should not allow that to have the right to be in the organization. For example, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) just suspended President Mamadou Tandja because he wanted to change their constitution. Also, sensitize the population about their constitutional and their rights. Also, the Democracy should be used, the power of executive, parliamentarians, and judicial should be separated. The revolutions are also sometime the best way to put down a dictatorship like the Arab spring in 2010 to 2012.
Dictatorships are bad because they oppress the people and the society. Only some people live very well and control everything in the country. It prevents countries from developing normally, and brings about revolutions which can more delay the development of the country. Also the next generation should learn about the past and try to build to build a country where the real freedom exist and where people do not think about how they can get wealth from the country but how they help their country to be prosperous.