Abstract
African Regional Organisations (ROs) (widely known as Regional Economic
Communities) have and continue to play countless roles in promoting democracy
within their various regions. During elections, for example, they provide, amongst other things, technical and capacity building assistance to EMBs, ECFs and political actors; conduct pre-electoral assessment missions; carry out mediation activities in solving electoral disputes; and deploy electoral observation missions (EOMs) to
member states organising elections. Through the adoption and implementation of several protocols and instruments, most of their efforts have been largely successful,
while others have not. The overall aim of this study was to examine the role of ECOWAS and SADC in promoting democracy within their respective regions during the period 2009-2019.
Importantly, elections (a component of democracy) was used as a framework for
analysis and both the 2001 ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance as well as the 2004 (revised in 2015) SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections were used as tools. These tools were applied to four case studies: two from ECOWAS (The Gambia and Togo) and two from SADC (Mauritius and Zimbabwe), respectively. Efforts were made to assess
whether presidential and legislative elections conducted from 2009-2019 were according to the provisions of the proposed electoral guidelines of the above ROs. It is important to emphasise that because the two regions have different historical trajectories (ECOWAS - violent conflicts and autocratic regimes; SADC - liberation movements and apartheid), their response to electoral issues would be different.
A definition of democracy and its understanding within an African setting was
identified. This was followed by a discussion on the various indicators for the holding of credible, peaceful, inclusive and transparent elections: constitutional and legal framework; electoral systems; electoral management bodies; conflict management; boundary delimitation commissions; voter rights; voter register and voter registration; access to ballot for candidates and political parties; electoral campaigns (intimidation and political violence); freedom of the media; political party finance; civic and voter
education; the participation of women, persons living with disabilities and the youth; polling station; ballot papers, ballot boxes and election materials; secrecy of ballot;
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the role of security forces during elections; counting of votes; announcement and acceptance of overall results; post-election review; post-election disputes; and election monitoring and observation. Though the study has comparative elements in terms of the above electoral indicators, it did not follow a comparative case study design. The research is
explanatory and qualitative and is based on an analysis of primary and secondary
data. It is informed by formal personal interviews as well as informal individual conversations with various electoral experts. Furthermore, a three-pronged approach was employed, where it presented an analysis of the indicators of elections; efforts
by member states to implement the proposed electoral guidelines of both ECOWAS
and SADC; and a contextual review of democratic efforts carried out by ECOWAS
and SADC. To fully understand the above indicators, they were categorised in three phases: pre-electoral; electoral; and post-electoral. From these phases, several important election hallmarks were realised: highly fragmented opposition;
constitutional and institutional frameworks; electoral systems; electoral management bodies; electoral commission forums; electoral observation missions; clear and transparent electoral procedures; and electoral disputes management systems. In
each of these phases, different mechanisms/methods were used by both ECOWAS
and SADC to ensure that presidential and legislative elections conducted during the above timeline by The Gambia, Togo, Mauritius and Zimbabwe were credible, peaceful, inclusive and transparent. Despite all the above, however, challenges persist. A major reason for this could be the lacklustre efforts of governments of The Gambia, Togo and Zimbabwe to fully
implement the proposed electoral guidelines. ECOWAS and SADC are still faced
with challenges such as insufficient funding and the inability to implement sanctions
on undemocratic member states, among others. Though efforts by The Gambia, Togo, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe to promote transparency are commendable to an extent, addressing issues regarding inclusivity and credibility during all the phases of elections are inadequate. It is very important for all member states to strongly
commit to the implementation of all the proposed electoral guidelines, as electoral issues are intertwined and failure to address any from any electoral phase (for example voter registration) will affect the whole electoral process.