Multipartism and Democracy in Africa:: a Developmental Tool or a Liability? - Challenges

The last decades of the 20th century saw a reemergence of multipartism and democracy in Africa. The return of multipartism marked a turning point in the continent?s development vision. While the democratic transition from one-party to multi-party democratic systems in Africa since the 1990s is to be celebrated, the continent is still a long way from being able to celebrate an institutionalized culture of intra-party democracy. One of the challenges facing African countries today is to nurture and consolidate democracy at the national level and strive to establish and institutionalize intra-party democracy. This document discusses the impact of multipartism on development in Africa, whether multipartism since its reintroduction in Africa, has contributed to a meaningful development in the continent or is a liability. The authors assume that multipartism has not contributed to a meaningful development in Africa. The document recommends a form of multipartism that consists of a two party system that will respond to the developmental needs of the continent as it obtains in advanced democracies such as USA, given that African states are still young to practice complex multipartism.