African elections often lack opposition

MULTIPLE African presidents are finding ways to block opposition candidates from running against them, turning elections into foregone conclusions that risk provoking violent unrest and undermining faith in democracy.

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A POLICE officer stops a man accused by electoral officials of attempting to taint the voting process at a polling station in Stone Town during Tanzania's elections.

(AFP)

Tanzania's elections descended into violence on Wednesday as voters rebelled against the lack of choice, with the two serious rivals to President Samia Suluhu Hassan either jailed or barred from running.

A day earlier, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term with almost 90% of the vote after his two main opponents were similarly excluded.

In Cameroon, 92-year-old Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, secured reelection for an eighth term this month, helped by the fact that his strongest challenger was barred from standing by the constitutional court.

There has been a decline in democracy worldwide in recent decades, with authoritarians finding inventive ways to block opponents everywhere from Asia to Europe to the Americas.

But it has been a striking trend in sub-Saharan Africa, showing “a crisis of democratic governance on the continent”, said Heritier Brilland Ndakpanga, of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.