With ever increasing political turmoil across the globe, there is a real need for democratic principles to be re-established and for stability to return to the African continent.
There has been a deluge of ongoing talk of “economic revolution” across the continent for decades now without any real progress towards sustainable, and stable development, that could take the continent from one where there is constant reliance on other nations, some with seriously questionable intents and ethics, to self-grown independent development.
One of the increasingly vexing issues across Africa is the growing number of conflicts and lack of peaceful resolutions and leadership accountability, that destroy stability in the region. The second big issue is endemic corruption and the abuse of power by leaders, who wish to hold on to power by whatever means in order to enrich themselves, mostly at the cost of ordinary citizens and to the detriment of the economic growth in these countries.
ParliMeter Launch Aims to Build Accountability
Today (6 March), in South Africa, there was a small but meaningful movement in this direction with the launch of the ParliMeter digital Platform. The digital tool was established by a partnership between the Organization for Undoing Tax Abuse, the Parliamentary Monitary Group and Open Up.
The goal of the new tool is to improve transparency and accountability in South Africa’s parliament, with the platform offering real-time data for parliamentary activities such as attendance, and bill progress.
The aim of the ParliMeter is focussed on simplifying access to parliamentary data, and to empower citizens and civil society to hold public representatives accountable.
Speaking at the launch, Mbali Ntuli, the ex-parliamentarian, and founder of the Groundwork Collective, said that “true democracy actually happens in-between elections”. This is a profound statement that should be taken to heart if democracy is to thrive.
People Hold The Power – They just don’t Know it
The fact that South Africa has an advanced constitution, has not prevented ongoing abuse of power in the country and Ntuli pointed out that true democracy is when the people hold the government accountable for their actions and not when the simply leave it up to other politicians to do so.
In South Africa, the electorate is held at the mercy of a representative electoral system, where politicians are more beholden to their political parties than the voters, despite a robust constitution.
There is great need for more political activism by ordinary citizens, taking an active role in holding governments in Africa accountable and to see that they are addressing the social and developmental priorities of their respective countries.
For as long as this fails to happen in Africa, development will be held back and the full potential of the continent will not be reached. African leaders have themselves failed to hold other leaders accountable and this has been to the detriment of the region as a whole.
The ParliMeter has much potential to be a key tool in strengthening democracy and provides in-depth details of government actions and politician participation. Key questions can be posed to be raised in Parliament and details of proposed bills and its progress are also available.
