African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

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The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ADC) is a document adopted by member states of the African Union (AU) on January 30, 2007, in order to promote liberal democracy and human rights in Africa. [1] It is the first binding document adopted by members of the African Union. Among its provisions are several aimed at combating unconstitutional regime changes, including the first legal instrument adopted by the AU acknowledging that constitutional coups are a form of unconstitutional regime change. [2]

Contents

Cameroon and Burkina Faso, two semi-authoritarian countries, [3] [4] have ratified the ADC, indicating that adoption of the charter on its own is not enough to prevent authoritarianism in Africa. [2]

Background

The supranational organization which preceded the AU, the Organization of African Unity, had a similar accord called the Declaration on the Framework for OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes in Government, or the "Lomé Declaration," for short. Under the Lomé Declaration, the OAU was equipped with an official framework to deal with unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. However, the Declaration was largely ineffective due to a number of reasons, including that the Lomé Declaration was not legally binding, it failed to create a framework for democratizing authoritarian countries, it defined unconstitutional changes narrowly, excluding constitutional coups, and it failed to create sufficient enforcement mechanisms. [2] The ADC would later attempt to address some of these problems by making the charter binding and including constitutional coups in its mandate, for example.

The ADC was also preceded by a number of AU instruments which had similar goals of promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and preventing unconstitutional regime changes. Among these are the Constitutive Act of the AU, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, and the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. [2]

Adoption by member states

Adopted in 2007, the charter only came into effect on February 15, 2012. [5] [6] Signature and ratification by member states, however, has been a slow and continual process since the charter's inception. Many of the more authoritarian member states of the African Union were unwilling to ratify the ADC because of its expansive provisions designed to encourage liberal democracy. [7] By 2009, 29 of 55 member states had signed the ADC, and only three had ratified it. [6]

In order for a member state to adopt the charter, the head of state must sign the charter during an AU meeting, at which point it may be ratified. However, the ratification process is often prohibitively complicated, especially in states which lack the political will to adopt the charter in the first place. [1] Ratification typically requires significant input from all key government and non-governmental stakeholders and often involves making preemptive costly adjustments to national institutions to be in accordance with the principles of the charter. [1]

Of the 55 member states that make up the African Union, 46 have signed, 34 have ratified, and 34 have deposited.

Dates of Signature, Ratification/Accession, and Deposit as of 2019 [6]
CountryDate of SignatureDate of RatificationDate of Deposit
Algeria14/07/201220/11/201710/01/2017
Angola27/01/2021--
Benin16/07/200728/06/201211/07/2012
Botswana---
Burkina Faso02/08/200726/05/201006/07/2010
Burundi20/06/2007--
Cameroon-24/08/201116/01/2012
Central African Republic28/06/200824/04/201706/03/2019
Cape Verde27/01/2012--
Chad22/01/200911/07/201113/10/2011
Côte d'Ivoire11/06/200916/10/201328/11/2013
Comoros02/02/201030/11/201606/01/2017
Congo18/06/2007--
Djibouti15/06/200702/12/201222/01/2013
Democratic Republic of Congo29/06/2008--
Egypt---
Equatorial Guinea30/01/2011--
Eritrea---
Ethiopia28/12/200705/12/200806/01/2009
Gabon02/02/2010--
Gambia29/01/200811/06/201804/02/2019
Ghana15/01/200806/09/201019/10/2010
Guinea-Bissau17/06/200823/12/201104/01/2012
Guinea09/05/200717/06/201111/07/2011
Kenya28/06/2008--
Libya---
Lesotho17/03/201030/06/201009/07/2010
Liberia18/06/200823/02/201407/03/2017
Madagascar31/01/201423/02/201713/04/2017
Mali29/06/200713/08/201302/09/2013
Malawi-11/10/201224/10/2012
Morocco---
Mozambique27/05/201024/04/201809/05/2018
Mauritania29/01/200807/07/200828/07/2008
Mauritius14/12/2007--
Namibia10/05/200723/08/201630/08/2016
Nigeria02/07/200701/12/201109/01/2012
Niger17/06/200804/10/201108/11/2011
Rwanda29/06/200709/07/201014/07/2010
South Africa01/02/201024/12/201024/01/2011
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic25/07/201027/11/201327/01/2014
Senegal15/12/2008--
Seychelles-12/08/201628/09/2016
Sierra Leone17/06/200817/02/200908/12/2009
South Sudan24/01/201326/01/201413/04/2015
São Tomé and Príncipe01/02/201018/04/201927/06/2019
Sudan30/06/200819/06/201316/09/2013
Eswatini29/01/2008--
Tanzania---
Togo30/10/200724/01/201220/03/2012
Tunisia27/01/2013--
Uganda16/12/2008--
Zambia31/01/201031/05/201108/07/2011
Zimbabwe21/03/2018--

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 ISSAfrica.org. "A tortuous road for the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance". ISS Africa. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Elvy, Stacy-Ann. "Towards A New Democratic Africa: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections And Governance" (PDF). Emory International Law Review. 27: 41–117 via Emory Law.
  3. Examining the U.S. Policy Response to Entrenched African Leadership: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on African Affairs of the S. Comm. on Foreign Relations, 112th Cong. 39, 43 n.5 (2012) (statement of Christopher Fomunyoh, Senior Associate & Regional Director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute)
  4. Burkina Faso: Freedom in the World 2012, FREEDOM HOUSE, http://www. freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/burkina-faso
  5. African Union, List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (January 17, 2012), http://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/files/news/news_2012/ african_charter_democracy_governance.pdf [hereinafter Ratification Status of the ADC].
  6. 1 2 3 "List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance" (PDF). African Union. 28 June 2019.
  7. "AU turns down democracy charter". 2006-06-30. Retrieved 2021-03-19.

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