China political system offers lessons for Africa

NAIROBI - Africa should take advantage of the deepening relations with China to study Chinese political model and come up with lessons that can enable it to develop its own political system that is inclusive, encourages economic growth and will promote ethnic cohesiveness, a Kenyan expert said on Tuesday.

Denise Kodhe who heads Pan-Africa Think Tank Institute for Democracy and Leadership in Africa (IDEA) said in an interview with Xinhua in Nairobi that the western model of democracy that Africa has adopted is not working for the continent as it has been unable to end ethnic tensions and even in countries seen as democratic and the economic growth does not match that progress.

"There are no efforts currently being made to develop an African political system despite the urgent need to do that," said Kodhe.

"Africa needs to learn from the Chinese political system that ensures smooth transition and has enabled the country to become a global economic power that has improved the living standards of its citizens. There is evidence of strong and capable leadership in China," he said.

In Africa, the application of western democracy is widespread especially since the early 1990s when western countries financed and morally supported opposition personalities to agitate for multi party system of government, which most countries have adopted today.

But despite what was seemingly seen as a political leap for the continent, conflicts resulting from political and ethnic differences have continued, holding back the economic progress of the continent.

Kodhe suggested that the Chinese model offers very good lessons for Africa, some of which can be used by the leadership here under the auspices of the African Union to develop its own political system.

"I am not saying that we replicate the Chinese model as whole in Africa, but we also need to learn from Europe, Japan and Malaysia and pick lessons that are good and are applicable in the continent," he said.

The call to develop an Africa political system has been made severally by a cross section of leaders in Africa including scholars and ordinary citizens but little has been done to achieve that goal.

The African Union in its most recent summit had a theme of "Pan Africanism and African Renaissance" that came closer to addressing the issue of a home grown political system although the issue did not specifically come up for debate.

"The western democracy is a colonial idea in Africa that does not work well. There is need to change. We need to find the place of our collective culture for instance in our political systems," said Kodhe who is now studying Chinese political system with a view of contributing to agenda of how Africa can develop its political system.

Lessons from Chinese political system for Africa are seen as one of the win-win benefits the continent can gain from its deepening relations with China in addition to increasing her exports there.

But successive scholars have observed that a section of African leadership is not looking at the opportunities for a win-win with China rather looking at China as an alternative to the relationship problem the continent has had with the west.

They held the biggest challenge facing Africa today and which is aided by the western democracy is ethnic suspicion. It starts with the elections as they form the crucial part of the western- adopted political system. Elections are usually on the basis on one-man-one-vote. Usually, the most populous ethnic groups join forces to vote in their preferred candidates, locking out the smaller ethnic groups from power.

As an alternative, scholars suggest that there is a need for a political system that will also take care of the needs of the smaller ethnic groups and accommodate them in national leadership to avoid conflicts.

The scholars urge that an African political system must also be able to facilitate enterprises for economic growth to ensure that the living standards of the Africans improve.

"It should be a system that should teach Africans how to fish and not wait for the fish to be given to them," said Kodhe.