2009 Annual Report

2009 Africa Program Highlights

The year 2009 was a disappointing one for democracy in Africa. However, the reversals and difficulties that many countries encountered should prove to be only temporary setbacks, since the momentum for greater freedom and democracy showed growing depth and resilience. Dictators may be sharing strategies for remaining in power — such as rescinding term limits, restricting NGOs, and silencing the press — but this was countered by African democrats and human rights defenders who met throughout the continent to share experiences and plan for greater political freedom.

In Kampala, Uganda, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network convened a gathering of more than a hundred human rights activists from across the continent. NED president Carl Gershman delivered the keynote address, and conference participants discussed ways to expand and strengthen their network. The African Democracy Forum launched its campaign for the ratification of the African Democracy Charter, and in partnership with the World Movement for Democracy and the International Center for Non-profit Law, held a series of workshops in Sierra Leone, Congo, Zimbabwe and Uganda identifying both the legal restrictions on NGOs and ways to overcome them.

Critical national elections were postponed in Cote d’Ivoire, Somaliland and Sudan, but these should go forward in 2010 with greater chances of success. NED’s partners made important contributions to the electoral process in these countries. Nine of NED’s Ivoirian civil society partners came together in a campaign to promote peace and voter education throughout the country. NDI held a series of roundtables publicizing a party code of conduct, and convened youth leaders from opposing political parties to learn how to foster multiparty dialogue and resolve disputes. The Consortium of Non-governmental Organizations in Somaliland (COSONGO) brought together civil society and media to discuss their role in the elections. In Sudan, a new Civil Society Consortium for the Elections brought together more than 100 groups to promote free and fair elections, while nearly all of NED’s 30 civil society partners in Sudan engaged in some form of support for the national elections.

Coups occurred in Guinea, Niger and Madagascar, but popular resistance and condemnation from the African Union signaled that such acts will no longer be tolerated. After a massacre of unarmed protesters in Guinea, the Coalition Nationale de Guinee pour les Droits et la Citoyennete des Femmes (CONAGDCF) shifted its focus to providing legal assistance for the many women raped the day of the massacre. Groupe Anfani in Niger raised awareness about the government’s efforts to abrogate the constitution and dissolve the legislature and supreme court.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, human rights leaders with NED partners ASADHO, Voix des Sans Voix, Amis de Nelson Mandela, and Groupe Lotus were arrested and harassed by the authorities. However, through local and international solidarity, they regained their freedom and continued their human rights advocacy. In Somalia, the assassination of journalists, including several NED partners, continued but independent media persevered and measures were taken by the National Union of Somali Journalists to protect and strengthen their work.

Ethiopia’s government sought to crush civil society with oppressive new legislation virtually prohibiting international funding, but NED’s partners in Ethiopia restructured their programs and carried on. CIPE fostered dialogue between the Ethiopian business community and policy makers, and supported the weekly radio program of the Mekelle Chamber of Commerce.

Gabon’s long-time dictator died in office and his son took over in hasty elections. Guinea-Bissau’s president was killed by the military but hurried elections restored democratic government. Mauritania’s new military leaders used snap elections to entrench themselves, and Angola’s ruling party further entrenched themselves in legislative elections that had been put off for more than a decade. In Mauritania, NDI remained one of the sole international supporters of civil society and the democratic movement in the country through the electoral process and beyond.

Thomas Doe Nah of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia shares the findings of the Liberia Local Governance Toolkit to a group of university students representing all 16 of Liberia’s counties. The students discussed ways in which the toolkit and its findings could be used in each of their respective counties.

But in South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Mali, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere, democratic elections have become the norm. Though elections are not sufficient for democracy, they are a necessary condition, and one that nearly all African countries now accept, however much some may try to avoid or manipulate them. NDI was able to increase the technical capacity of the SADC Election Support Network, and strengthened the collaboration of West African election monitoring organizations. In Liberia, NAYMOTE promoted youth political participation and monitored important by-elections in Monsterrado County won by the opposition party.

Meanwhile, Nigeria drifted into the end of the year leaderless, the fight against corruption weakened, and electoral reform stalled. Peace in the Niger Delta remained tenuous, while violence in the north flared. Nevertheless, some local governments and states, such as Lagos, demonstrated the benefits of good governance. Citizens demanded greater accountability across the country, and a new generation of leadership gave signs of emerging. The New Initiative for Social Development was instrumental in bringing about gains by women in critical elections in Ekiti State; Kebetkache produced a film, “Mothering Peace,” and built a network of women peace activists in the Niger Delta. YOSPIS reached out to thousands of youth in northern Nigeria with civic education providing an alternative to violence.

Elsewhere in Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe experimented with somewhat dysfunctional governments of national unity. Although progress was limited, peace did prevail, and dynamic civil society movements in both countries rallied the popular demand for good governance and democracy. In Kenya, IRI worked with local governments to increase citizen participation, and CIPE strengthened the role of the business sector as a voice for peace and reform. The National Constitutional Assembly in Zimbabwe promoted greater popular participation in the country’s constitutional reform process, and an array of youth groups built a culture of democratic activism.

NED hosted two conferences in Washington, one with a group of visiting Kenyan parliamentarians that was addressed by the new U.S. assistant secretary for Africa, Johnny Carson; and another with the Hon. Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe’s new minister of finance.