Ezekwesili seeks policies to strengthen democracy in Africa

Oby Ezekwesili, a former vice president of the World Bank, Africa Region, has called for more policies and programmes to strengthen democracy in the continent.

Ezekwesili made the call at the African Conference, organised by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) in Abuja last week.

She stressed that democracy could only thrive when the electoral system was transparent with competent leaders to tackle the social and economic challenges faced in the continent.

She also said that the SPPS programme was to groom young leaders from 20 African countries with the right mindset to improve the standard of governance.

“What we are doing is correcting not just the supply side dealing by having a school that raises a new generation of politicians that will government for the public good for the collective good of the society and not for personal interest.

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“We are also focused on the political literacy that is giving to the demand side so that they understand their influence to determine the quality of governance,” she said.

Zanetor Rawlings, a Ghanaian member of Parliament, expressed concern over the impact of foreign interference in Africa through the introduction of political and economic models that had impoverished the people.

Rawlings, therefore, emphasised the need for inclusive governance and accountability to address crimes against humanity in the country.

“When we talk about violent extremism and terrorism across the continent, one thing that always baffles me is where are the weapons coming from, they are not been made magically, every weapon on this planet can be traced.

“So beyond where we say that we have dealt with certain extremists or we’ve taken captive extreme groups, why are we not holding those manufacturing the weapons to account?” She asked.

Also speaking, Kah Walla, a Cameroonian political activist, said that over 45 million people were displaced in Africa annually due to conflicts caused by poor governance.

He stressed the need to tackle the problems and bring conflict to the barest minimum.