23 African countries to hold elections this year

The Afrobarometer report has said that in a year packed with 23 national elections on the continent, the quality and legitimacy of the high-stakes contests will be front and centre.

The report said most Africans, 75%, believe in elections as the best way to choose
their leaders with more than six in 10 citizens supporting elections in all surveyed countries except Lesotho (44%).

“And nearly two-thirds (64%) of Africans want multiparty competition to ensure that voters have real choices in who governs them, although only one-third of Tunisians (32%) and Basotho (34%) agree,” it said.

It added “But as we have seen, weakening support for elections – a decline of 8 percentage points over the past decade – is one of the troubling trends in popular commitment to democratic norms and practices.

“This may reflect some disillusionment after too many elections marred by low quality, disputes, and/or violence, or a recognition that elections by themselves don’t guarantee accountable governance or reliable public services. Citizens’ assessment of their most recent national elections as largely free and fair is down by 7 points since 2011/2013, from 66% to 59%.

“And fewer than half of Africans think their countries’ elections ensure that members of Parliament (MPs) represent the views of voters (42%) or enable voters to remove leaders who fail to do what the people want (45%) (Figure 13). Moreover, only four in 10
citizens (39%) say they trust their national electoral commission ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot,’ while 57% express little or no trust.”