Africa's many entrenched presidents should learn lessons lost on recently deposed Arab tyrants as the Arab spring moves into another season. Syria's Bashar El Assad slaughtering his own people in plain view of Arab League "observers", and Tahrir Square in Cairo becoming the epicentre of the uprising against embattled generals. Sub-Saharan Africa's encounter with the sort of extreme make-over politics that has upended long-term tyrannies in the Arab world is long overdue.
When Abdoulaye Wade was elected into office in 2000, Senegal received applause across the world for what was billed as a landmark event. Wade's victory was seen as a saving grace by many, the previous president, Abdou Diouf, even called his long-time nemesis to congratulate him and acknowledge his triumph.
But despite the promise of democracy during his inauguration in 2000, Wade, like some of his African compatriots, has become an electoral authoritarian.
The modus operandi of all would-be-dictators is essentially the same: besides parliament, if there is a credible one, is to seize control of state institutions (the security forces, the media, the civil service, the judiciary and the electoral commission), pack them with apparatchiks to serve their interest. With the aim to cling onto power..
The muddled and forestalled story of Senegal has become a prevalent narrative across much of the continent.
Election-related meltdown in Senegal is a stark reminder of democracy's fragile foothold in Africa. A combination of challenges unique to the continent, including worsening poverty and inconsistent international engagement, is blamed for fuelling a string of setbacks. After some progress in the late 1990s, once-promising governments have regressed, particularly around election time.
The Senegalese constitution only allows an incumbent to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. President Wade has angered the international community, including the American, French, British and Canadian quartet, by insisting on an interpretation of the electoral code which would allow him to run again in the forthcoming elections in February 2012. A recent letter sent by four influential members of the US Congress (Christopher A. Coons, chairman of the US Senate subcommittee on Africa, Johnny Isakson, Chris Smith and Donald Payne) urging him not to run for re-election is a testament of the fear of a copy-cat Ivorian conflict.
Electoral violence and dangerous rhetoric
Senegal, unlike most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa has been spared the unfortunate perennial of war – but Octogenarian Wade's attempt to alter the constitution highlights the country's decline as a model of democracy.
During his years of struggle against the former socialist ruling party, Wade was charged and arrested for various offences, which he said were politically motivated – he often went on hunger strike to demand his freedom.
Many analysts and well respected "think-tanks" now fear that he is using the same "bully-boy" tactics to sideline potential rivals like the popular youth leaders Barthelemy Dias and Malick Noel Seck.
Dias, the charismatic leader of the youth wing of the Socialist Party and a district mayor in Dakar was attacked at his office on 22 December by armed men said to be associated with the ruling party. Despite Dias's claim of having used a licensed fire-arm to defend himself and his staff, he was held by the police for five days without a thorough investigation.
Dias was subsequently charged and remanded in custody on three charges: murder, assault and battery, and illegal possession of firearms. According to Human Rights Watch, the charges against him are politically motivated and therefore should not stand before any independent court of law.
by taking the judiciary hostage Wade creates a culture of lawlessness which cannot be appropriate in a democratic society
In an interview with journalists from France24 and Radio France International president Wade said: "This was an attempt on the young socialist leader's life."
Seck is a political activist who heads the Socialist Convergence, a youth movement linked to the Senegalese Socialist Party. He was arrested on 10 October last year for delivering an open letter to the president of the Constitutional Council asking it to reject the third term candidacy of the incumbent for the next presidential election.
He was charged with making death threats against the members of the Constitutional Council and "contempt of the court".
These arrests appear to be part of a larger crackdown on political activists ahead of the elections – and many observers believe these charges are arbitrary and warn of the political crisis that crippled Côte d'Ivoire: a low point in Senegal's fragile human rights records.
President Wade should recognise that ideologically driven individuals like the aforementioned activists are often "first actors" in the street and catalysts for uprising. And that such activists could lead large numbers of dissatisfied citizens across the bridge of fear to the land of freedom, especially on the eve of presidential election.
The political landscape in the country has been shut down as journalists are being harassed. Oppositionists are unable to operate freely and the security services are continuing to infringe on people's human rights.
There are alleged breaches of the independence of the judiciary on the Dias and Seck cases. If found to be true, by taking the judiciary hostage Wade creates a culture of lawlessness which cannot be appropriate in a democratic society.
History has shown that sometimes even those who rose to power with good intentions soon became corrupt. They took advantage of their position to enrich themselves and their family and friends. Then in order to protect their wealth and power, they silenced those who threatened their authority. As one injustice led to another, and as their friends became fewer, they grew increasingly paranoid and oppressive. They desperately clung to power in fear that if they lost control then they might also lose their fortunes, their freedom, and possibly even their lives.
Having swept into power in a democratic landslide, Wade has the opportunity to write his destiny in history books. He must recall that he is the first person to witness the democratic and peaceful handover of power from one party to another. He should leave a legacy that should be remembered with appreciation. We hope wisdom shall be his guide – and hopefully the Ivorian bloodshed will not be replicated.
Luke Kendeck is Africa Specialist and Global Communications Director at Eaton Partnership Inc
