The Pan-African mission
upon winning a majority, sought to become President for life with control of the one legal party in the nation. He cited the division that having an opposition caused, instead opting to ask Ghanaians to work towards the one vision his party was proposing. To solidify this into the constitution he held a referendum, winning with 99.91% of the vote, a result which many have claimed to be rigged. 17 In his book, Muammar Gaddafi dedicated a third of it to talking about the ’problem of democracy’, claiming that even in supposedly valid elections, a dictatorship arises through, potentially, 49% of the population being ‘ruled by an instrument of government they didn’t vote for’. 18 Anti-democratic sentiment is still prevalent amongst African leaders, as seen in the recent closure of the independent electoral commission by Burkina Faso’s Ibrahima Traore. This all suggests that if this state were to emerge from the existing pan-African vision, the likelihood is that the style of government would be significantly more autocratic than what we see in the west. This supposedly maximizes efficiency and streamlines the national vision ensuring the most effective form of government. However, evidence from recent history would suggest otherwise. The Arab Spring and the toppling of al-Assad are the contemporary examples of public support in autocracies eroding over time. With no democratic method to depose of their leader, people turned to protest and violence. In his article ‘This Is Why Autocracies Fail’, NYT journalist David Brooks explained how the nature of autocratic states, more specifically the clamping down of freedoms, both societal and political, leads to brain drains and poorly informed decision-making. 19 This is considered as a necessary sacrifice by some to ensure order and stability. However, a state of 1.5 billion under an autocracy would simply be a situation of revolts waiting to happen, as there is no way that substantial opposition would not arise. The ability to suppress opposition works effectively in areas such as Russia and China, where historic suppression has created a culture of obedience to the nation's leadership. Africa, on the other hand, has a long history of people using either deposition through elections, coups, revolutions and uprisings, where the people actively play a role in deciding their leadership. An autocracy on the scale of a whole continent would be unworkable, while maintaining democratic principles would simply be a continuation of the situation across the majority of Africa. To conclude, the pan-African mission can be likened to the Communist utopia of Karl Marx, a pretty idea in imagination, but a nightmare in terms of detail and largely unachievable in practice. Uniting under one national identity may have the potential to boost economic potential through the pooling of raw materials and workforces, making it seem optimal in theory. But the reality is that the continent is too divided for this to actually operate. Leaders would be unwilling to sacrifice their economic and national sovereignty for the benefit of states with which they have been in conflict for decades. However, the vision can very much be one the AU aspires towards. Removal of trade barriers, freedom of movement and further economic co-operation are all parts of Agenda 2063, the African Union’s 50 year-plan to economic prosperity. However, whether those plans will be implemented is a different question entirely.
17 N/A (1964) ‘Ghana: One Party, Four Walls’, Time Magazine at https://time.com/archive/6808358/ghana-one- party-four-walls/. 18 Gaddafi M. (1975) The Green Book – English translation. London. 19 Brooks D. This is why autocracies fail. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/opinion/why-autocracies- fail.html. Consulted 29/7/2025.
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