GEJ On Democracy In Africa

Immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan has asked former African leaders to encourage the incumbent leader to follow their country’s tenure limit.

Goodluck Jonathan

Jonathan was speaking on November 19, Thursday, as the speaker at a event named “Presidential elections and democratic consolidation in Africa: Case studies on Nigeria and Tanzania.”
The ex-Nigerian leader stated that “democracy is being institutionalized in Africa” at a step which guarantees
that the continent would be rid of ongoing electoral problems within the next months.
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Former president while commenting on Africa’s place in the world approved that historical reticence of the Western world about good developments in the continent is still visible in present day reports about the march of democracy on the continent.
He said: “America was called new world when it was discovered but Africa was called the dark continent, the world does not get to hear the best stories about Africa’s electoral progress, because they are not told by global media leaders.”
Jonathan added that Africans across the continent are denying leaders “who do not see themselves as elected representative of the people but rather as kings.”
While talking about his own experience the ex-president stated that in Nigeria, some “people believe that when you lose an election, you must go to court” as his opponents did after the presidential poll in 2011, “but I insisted on transparent and credible election because I did not want anyone to question my mandate,” he added.
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“Five justices of the Appeal Court and all Supreme Court justices ruled that the election was free and fair, in fact the 2011 election is widely acknowledged to be the freest and fairest election since Nigeria got independence.”
Jonathan said he could have challenged the outcome of the 2015 presidential poll given the prevalence of card reader malfunction across Nigeria but he chose to move on because “I have served and I think it is enough”.
The Commonwealth of Nations has nominated Jonathan as a special representative to peacefully resolve the political stalemate in the semi-independent island of Zanzibar, Tanzania.

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