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More citizens in the country trust traditional leaders and local government officials to assist them with personal and community development challenges more than their elected Members of Parliament (MPs), the latest Afrobarometer report on citizens’ engagement in the democratic space in Africa, has revealed.
The report titled, “Citizens engagement, citizen power: Africans claim the promise of democracy,” established that 29 per cent of Ghanaians turned to traditional leaders for assistance compared with 14 per cent for MPs and 18 per cent for political party leaders, respectively.
Additionally, the study showed that 36 per cent of citizens sought solutions to their personal and community needs from local government assemblies.
The study, which was conducted across 39 African countries, further showed that on the average, 37 per cent of Africans preferred to approach traditional leaders for assistance as against 15 per cent for elected MPs and 20 per cent for political party leaders, respectively.
A senior analyst and methodologist at Afrobarometer, Dr Rorisang Lekalake, presented the findings during the launch of the report in Accra yesterday.
She said the study measured 10 indicators, including citizens who voted in the last national elections, felt close to a political party, attended a community meeting, contacted a traditional leader, contacted an MP, contacted a political party official or participated in a protest.
The report, the second in an annual series on high-priority topics, drew on data spanning the past decade, including the latest round of nationally representative surveys in the 39 countries, representing the views of more than three-fourths of the continent’s population.
The analysis focused on key indicators of citizen engagement: voting, political party affiliation, political discussion, attending community meetings, joining with others to raise an issue, contacting leaders and protesting.
The researchers also looked at current levels of engagement, trends over the past decade, demographic patterns of engagement and key factors that drive citizens to make their voices heard.
Further insights in the report showed that voting in elections was the predominant form of political and civic participation in Ghana and other African countries.
The report established that 72 per cent of citizens across 39 African countries voted in their country’s last national election.
For instance, while 83 per cent of Ghanaians voted in the previous election before the survey, 89 per cent voted in Liberia, 90 per cent in Sierra Leone, and 91 per cent in Seychelles.
Again, the report showed that 41 per cent of citizens across Africa “feel close to” a political party, while 62 per cent “occasionally” or “frequently” discuss politics with family or friends.
It was also found that 47 per cent of citizens on the continent attended a community meeting at least once during the previous year, ranging from 11 per cent in Tunisia to 85 per cent in Madagascar.
“More than one-third (37 per cent) contacted a traditional leader, 28 per cent a local government councillor, 15 per cent a Member of Parliament (MP), and 20 per cent a political party official during the previous year,” the study added.
The study found that most Africans participate in multiple political and civic activities, demonstrating engagement at levels that compare favourably with other world regions.
Dr Lekalake said, importantly, the study found that democracy, especially in the form of high-quality elections and responsive leadership, appeared to foster more participation.
The study also found that protesting was the least common form of engagement, “but even so, nearly one in 10 respondents (nine per cent) participated in a demonstration during the previous year”.
With participation in protests, the study found that five per cent of Ghanaians actively took part in demonstrations as against the nine per cent continental average participation.
Overall, the study showed that almost everyone got involved in one form of engagement or the other, with just six per cent of respondents not taking part in any of the 10 forms of engagement.
One form of citizen engagement that experienced a marked decline over the past decade was affiliation with a political party.
The report revealed that Identification with a party dropped in every surveyed country except Morocco.
Contrary to expectations generated from Western democracies, the report showed that Africans who were poorer and less educated tended to participate more in political and civic activities than their wealthier and more educated counterparts.
Even more, rural residents outperform urbanites when it comes to citizen engagement. "But disadvantages persist for two of Africa’s largest demographic groups – women and youth," the report said.
