Newsletter 9

Democratic Development or Re-Colonization?
by Adama Dieng

I had not been to Burkina Faso since October 1987, one week after the tragic death of President Thomas Sankara. Ten years later, I found a country where the ethnic polarization is absent and where civil society links the state and the citizens together. During the last decade, significant improvements in the consolidation of democracy have taken place in Burkina Faso.

Under the guidance of President Blaise Compoaré, macro-economic management and a strict budget policy have largely contributed to a balanced development and the stability of the country. But we should remain cautious because there is still a lot to be done before democratic governance is in place.

Today, covering one‘s eyes should be in vain: the democratic transformation is seriously hampered by political "dead end" practices on the African continent. It shouldn‘t be exaggerated to talk about the failure of the electoral systems given the incapacity of the leaders, whether they are in power or in the opposition, to find an adequate answer to the aspirations of the population.

Here and there, bullets replace ballots. Force has priority over justice. Elsewhere, the corruption has corroded the institutions to such a degree that the state could be identified with a commercial society.

No African country has been spared from conflict of some kind, even though the intensity is more remarkable in countries with considerable natural resources. The diamond-wars, the gold-wars, the copper-wars, the oil-wars, with the misery that follows, drives us to ask the following questions: When will certain states stop exploiting their people? How does one restore dignity, where it has been derided? How does one put an end to the intensity of the forces oppressing the African people, searching to lay their hands on the inestimable fortunes of the continent? They are not wrong those who see a re-colonization of Africa.

But all hope is not gone, since some states prove that it is possible to build a democratic, sovereign and autonomous Africa. Burkina Faso, an inland country and one of the poorest in the southern hemisphere, teaches us that their own force is to count on. Uganda is an other example. A new generation of Africans emerges from the long dictatorial night that afflicted the cradle of humanity.

For Africa to succeed, its leaders should put the human being at the centre of the development process that must not be limited only to economic improvement, but also to consider more challenging concepts such as human dignity, security, justice and equity. Africa must also fight for education, formation and information.

The International IDEA publication La Démocratie au Burkina Faso (Democracy in Burkina Faso), published in January 1998, analyses a number of ways to deepen and reinforce, in a constructive, critical and forward-looking spirit, the democratic processes in this country. In broadening the dialogue to include consent and liberation in Burkina Faso, International IDEA has tried to assist the democratic process, to analyse the perspectives and to rejuvenate the progress of a durable democracy.

I hope that the report, concentrated on the progress of the democratic development in Burkina Faso, will be a reference-tool for those who have in their heart the respect for human dignity on the African continent.

International IDEA Board Member and Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists
Mr. Adama Dieng

Newsletter 9
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