IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Ambassador Martin Kimani Addresses Governance in Africa
On February 28, Ambassador Martin Kimani, IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow, CEO of the Africa Center, and former permanent representative of Kenya to the UN, spoke to a packed room of scholars and students about governance, strongmen, and institutions in Africa during a roundtable cosponsored by the Institute for Global Politics (IGP) and the Institute for African Studies. He was joined by Mahamadou Diouf, Columbia’s Leitner Family Professor of African Studies, for the discussion examining democratic backsliding in Africa and the resurgence of military coups since 2020. Moving beyond current events, the panelists also explored the rise of democracy after colonialism and the aspirations of African youth for an inclusive and prosperous future. The event was moderated by Abosede George, director of the Institute for African Studies at Columbia.
“The state has been in crisis for a long time,” Kimani said. He explained how the implosion of Libya led to a flow of arms and people that led to armed rebellions across sub-Saharan Africa. This instability exposed state weakness as violence and poverty skyrocketed. Kimani noted that African democracies had been partial and limited, excluding youth and often incapable of providing for their populations. He viewed the series of coups from Guinea to Sudan as a response from youth who felt democratic governments permitted foreign exploitation. "Is that what democracy in Africa is – an aspiration we are backsliding from?” he asked.
Diouf explained that historically, scholars viewed governance in Africa as one of strictly personal rule, but many countries were slowly moving towards a democratic culture that valued institutions over personalities. Examining his native Senegal, he described how the post-colonial government there prioritized the language of deliberation. “The Senegalese can fight with words, in a violent way,” he said, “but no one will throw a punch. It is just talk. That allows different legitimacies and a respect for pluralism to emerge.”
Both scholars noted that Senegal and Kenya, for example, are ethnically diverse countries where colonial powers governed using ethnic structures; however, electoral politics tended to ignore ethnicity, which made it ever more powerful, leading to political organizing based on ethnicity. Diouf believes the answer is not to erase ethnic identities but to move towards a “moral ethnicity,” where individuals feel a sense of belonging to their ethnic group and feel part of a larger community that tolerates differences.
Kimani observed that Kenya benefits from bottom-up governance systems with extensive participation from elders and youth. “[These systems] are not electoral, but inclusive on their own terms,” he said. The challenge is to connect both systems – how to integrate the formal electoral politics and the vibrant tribal and ethnic politics. “What are the rules that will enable us to live together while respecting our differences?” Diouf asked.
Feminism in Africa addresses that question as well, with the aim of including more women in decision-making, noted George. Unfortunately, many people from his own country do not see feminism in that light, Diouf said. "Beyond democracy, we need open societies," he continued, asserting that Africa's large youth populations create space for new political movements to emerge.
The roundtable concluded with a discussion about youth participation in governance. The speakers addressed how the Arab Spring in 2011 brought young people to the table, demanding that state leadership structures were not working for them. Senegal’s ruling party is youth-led, and like many youth movements across Africa, the young people in the party are focused on sovereignty, working to protect and control resources from foreign exploitation. “We are on a collision course with a force of demography and vibrancy – African youth,” Kimani stated. “If we accept it, change will be patient and peaceful. If not, it will tear us apart.”