Africans have a strong message for their traditional chiefs: Don’t tell us how to vote
In one of Africa’s most democratic countries, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently used his weekly newsletter to praise unelected traditional leaders, who “support and drive development in their communities” and help address critical issues facing the country, including economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The role traditional leaders would play in modern Africa has not always been clear. As the democratic openings of the early 1990s replaced autocratic rulers with elected governments across much of Africa, “modernists” argued there was no longer a place for traditional leaders. Amid concern that chiefs — almost always male and unelected — would undermine democracy and perpetuate discrimination, especially against women and youths, opponents either expected the institution to wither away or openly called for it to be restricted or abolished.… Seguir leyendo »