JournalTOCs

Africa Development
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.155

Number of Followers: 28

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 0850-3907
Published by African Journals Online

[261 journals]

On Resuscitating the Aborted National Project: A Retrospective and
Prospective View (Notes from my Last Conversation with Thandika
Mkandawire)
- Authors: Fantu Cheru
  Pages: 1 - 14
  Abstract: Text of the Inaugural Thandika Mkandawire Annual Memorial Lecture presented at the 3rd edition of the Social Policy in Africa Conference convened virtually from 22–24 November 2021.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
Digital Technologies and Election Management in Africa’s Democratisation
Process: More Technocratic than Democratic'
- Authors: Okechukwu Obinna Ibeanu
  Pages: 15 - 39
  Abstract: No Abstract.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
L’illusion du e-voting dans les organisations syndicales de Côte
d’Ivoire1 : entre légitimité et défis démocratiques
- Authors: Yao Adoman Francis Kouadio
  Pages: 41 - 60
  Abstract: Based on a qualitative methodology combining field data and documentation,
  this study aims to understand the social processes of legitimisation of the voting
  technique at work in trade unions in Côte d’Ivoire through a study within RESAFIG union (Renouveau syndical des agents des Finances générales). It specifically shows, through the prism of the theory of organisational legitimacy, that the internal and external constraints of the union induce the maintenance of the physical vote, despite the fact that this technique produces a low rate of electoral participation and a democratic backlash. On this basis, the analysis concludes, on the one hand, that the satisfaction by the union leaders of the socio-corporatist expectations of the union members is the source legitimising the bypassing of electronic voting. On the other hand, union leaders intimidated and punished by the state because of corporatist demands indirectly phagocytise the political engagement of union members, which reflects their indifference to the maintain physical vote.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
Droit d’accès à l’internet et ordre public électoral en Afrique :
la crédibilisation institutionnelle au Congo-Kinshasa à l’épreuve de
la surveillance e-citoyenne
- Authors: Jacques Kambale Bira’Mbovote
  Pages: 61 - 83
  Abstract: The electoral process in Africa continues to surprise many observers. One of the latest innovations of the current powers is to untimely disconnection of the internet before, during or after the elections. Hence the question at the centre of the debate: can electoral public order justify the restriction of the right to access internet' To answer this question, the December 2018 coupled elections in Congo-Kinshasa were the focus of this study. Thus, during this period, two approaches emerged. The statist approach, based on the monopoly of constraint with its philosophical presuppositions of hierarchy, order and normativity from above, and linked to the dual colonial and dictatorial past of Lumumba's country, is based on the reason of State under the guise of public order, which tends to block citizen intervention on the public scene. On the other hand, the egalitarian model, led by human rights defenders and citizen movement activists, relies on the sacredness and fundamental nature of the right to access internet, an essential component of the right to information and freedom of expression. In a systemic and historical approach, our analysis leads to an 'in-between' model: the contractualist model, which marries public order with the democratic requirements of e-citizen monitoring of the electoral process.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
Machine à voter et résistance politique à l’élection présidentielle
de 2018 en RDC
- Authors: Antomella Kornégie Atipo
  Pages: 85 - 106
  Abstract: This article, which deals with the impact of the voting machine (VM) in the 2018 presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is based on the analysis and cross-referencing of documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), local and international newspapers collected on the internet and other works on elections in Africa and the world and on electronic voting. It shows that CENI’s choice to use electronic voting to reduce fraud and improve the Congolese electoral process leads to resistance from some political parties and civil society organisations hostile to its use, who see it as a manoeuvre of the outgoing president to get his successor elected.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
The ‘#tag Generation’: Social Media and Youth Participation in the
2019 General Election in Nigeria
- Authors: Oluwasola Festus Obisesan
  Pages: 107 - 145
  Abstract: This article examines the roles of social media on youth’s political participation in the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. It interrogates the roles played by these communication tools in the emancipation and agency of youths while revealing the double-edged implications the devices may have on the democratic processes and aspirants. The article employs both primary and secondary methods of data sourcing. Primary data were obtained from in-depth interviews with social media ‘influencers’ who played vital roles during the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. Further, data were obtained from selected social media accounts of prominent politicians and analysed using content analysis. Secondary data were extracted from books, articles, newspapers and magazines. Also, the study was contextualised using use and gratification theory. The study concluded that social media played a vital role in the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. It revealed how social media contributed to citizens’ power and agency through debates and narratives which were instrumental in agenda-setting for the ruling class and citizens’ democratic expectations.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
‘Open the Servers’: The Implications of Electoral Technology for
Kenya’s Democratisation Process
- Authors: Joyce Omwoha
  Pages: 147 - 160
  Abstract: Digital technologies for elections were introduced in Kenya with a vision that they would bring election reforms through increasing administrative efficiency, reducing long-term costs, and by enhancing transparency in the electoral process would enhance citizenry inclusivity. Despite the voting exercise taking place without a hitch, the 2017 General Election results were dismissed by various stakeholders who called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to ‘open the servers’, with witnesses, to use the results inside the servers to verify the ballot papers in the ballot boxes. Promises by IEBC that counting, transmission and verification of results would promote citizens’ rights during the electoral process were not met hence the Swahili phrase, ‘Fungua server’ (Open the servers) was coined. The server became the Holy Grail, the gadget of hope for free and fair elections. Chants of ‘Fungua server’ unveiled the dreaded side of Kenya’s democratisation; of flawed elections and violence that followed. ‘Fungua server’ was a call to free and fair elections. The paradox of technology this article seeks to interrogate was how technology has subverted democratic elections in Kenya; arguing that there is need to demystify the server and focus on electoral transparency as a yardstick of democracy.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
The Role of ICT in Curtailing Electoral Fraud and Violence in Nigeria: A
Study of the 2019 General Election in Lagos State
- Authors: Ifeanyi U. Chukwuma
  Pages: 161 - 178
  Abstract: Elections can be described as the hallmark of democracy and integral for a democratic society to remain stable. However, electoral process in Nigeria has
  been marred with fraud and violence. Electoral violence and fraud remain a major threat to the stability of democracy in Nigeria. To reduce the occurrence of violence and fraud, INEC introduced the Smart Card Reader (SCR) which was used to verify the authenticity of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC). The use of ICT during the 2019 elections limited the extent to which political actors can intimidate or harass INEC officials to commit electoral fraud, it also reduced the number of electoral petitions and in Lagos State, there was a reduction in violence experienced during the elections.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
Digital Technologies and Election Management in Zimbabwe:
Pseudo-democratic Transition and Contorted Delirium'
- Authors: Torque Mude
  Pages: 179 - 197
  Abstract: This article examines the extent to which the adoption of biometric voter registration in election management in Zimbabwe has appeared a phantom on the horizon regarding democratisation. While the emergence of digitalised election management brought with it expectations of credible electoral processes and outcomes in a country with a history of rampant electoral malpractices in manually managed processes, the phenomenon is yet to yield positive results regarding democratisation in Zimbabwe. Despite the shift from manually managed electoral process to a digitalised approach, the quagmire of irregularities has persisted in Zimbabwean elections. This is largely attributable to the trajectory of governance in Zimbabwe which appears to militate against the exploitation of the opportunities presented by digital technologies in democratising elections in the county. This said, the conclusion drawn from this article is that the configuration of political power, particularly issues of the breach of the democratic principles of separation of power and separation of personnel, are disingenuous to technology-induced democratic transition to credible elections. Secondary research was used to obtain data for this article as data were gathered from books, journal articles, newspaper articles and institutional reports.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)
Interrogating the Cost of Digital Technology and Trust in Elections in
Africa: The Nigerian Perspective
- Authors: Felicia Osondu Okwueze
  Pages: 199 - 217
  Abstract: The adoption of technology in electoral democracy in Africa has been on the increase. The introduction of technology has its positive consideration but it also comes with cost and trust implications, which is a paradox. This study is a descriptive work which made use of both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
  Election administration theory was adopted. To improve on the use of digital technologies, Africans should be mindful of the failure of digital checks and balances that often render an electoral process even more vulnerable to rigging than it was before. In designing new systems for election management, this article argues that Africans should look inward and integrate the new technologies into relevant environmental and cultural settings in order to reduce the cost while improving on the trust of electorates.
  PubDate: 2022-09-01
  Issue No: Vol. 47, No. 2 (2022)