CHARACTERISTIC OF
MULTIPARTISM IN E. AFRICA
Prepared by shamily
0656 848274
dodoma tanzania
1.
Are there general characteristics of political parties in East
Africa ?
2.
Which qualities should parties possess in order to be able to continue
constructively to political transition?
3.
Which internal safeguards should be in place in order to develop these
qualities?
4. What external safeguards
should be in place?
General characteristics of
political parties in East Africa
The general characteristics of
political parties in East Africa were
cataloged as positive and negative.
Positive characteristics
The positive attributes of
political parties were outlined as:
§ the role of checking government excesses
§ acting
as a mouthpiece of popular will of their constituencies.
Negative characteristics
On the negative note, political
parties were described as:
§ being tribally/ ethnically based
§ lacking in national character
§ Being elitist and elite based: and having urban based
leadership.
§ financially
unsound;
§ lacking strong organizational structures, internal
democracy, financial management, transparency and accountability,
§ Lacking
focus and ideological orientation and based on foreign concepts.
Qualities of parties to
constructively contribute to political transition
For parties to be able to
contribute constructively to political transition, they should:
§ Have a national character and should not be not be
based along ethnic or religious lines. Parties should have issue based agendas
reflective of peoples interests
§ identify a political ideology and have published
manifestos;
§ exercise internal democracy including transparency in
management;
§ be gender sensitive and embrace intergenerational
issues;
§ have clear, defined, accessible organisational and
physical structures including a permanent secretariat as well as qualified
personnel and
§ Have
sound financial base in order to foster financial independence.
Internal safeguards to
ensure qualities of parties to constructively contribute to transition
In order for political parties
to have qualities that would enable them to be able to constructively
contribute to political transition, a number of internal safeguards to develop
these qualities were listed. Political parties should have:
§ strong alternative governance programmes
§ a permanent and professional secretariat that
separates management from political issues;
§ an adequate internal policy framework such as proper
financial, accounting and audit systems, conflict resolution policy, and a code
of conduct.
§ Good internal communication flows within the party
structure
§ a good constitution that allows control, ownership and
decision-making by the membership but also allows the party leaders to account
to the membership
§ a membership educational programme on various issues
including the party constitution and regulations.
§ Strong
party leadership with role models
§ continuous
inter party recruitment and mobilization initiatives, strategic planning and
periodic update of policies
