At present, three sovereign monarchies are members of the African Union: Eswatini (ruled by KingMswati III, with Ntombi), Lesotho (ruled by KingLetsie III), and Morocco (ruled by KingMohammed VI of Morocco). Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy, in which the king or queen serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is proscribed from actively participating in political initiatives. According to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch. Eswatini (Swaziland) is an absolute monarchy, currently in the process of democratization. According to current Swazi law and custom, the monarch holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The king ("Ngwenyama") is a hereditary leader, receiving assistance from a council of ministers and a national legislature. The senior queen ("Ndlovukati") is in charge of national rituals, and acts as regent if her counterpart Ngwenyama dies and the heir has not performed royal adulthood rituals or is indisposed. If the king's mother is no longer living, one of the king's wives may act as Ndlovukati. The king has constitutional protection from arrest and trial.
In several other African states there are subnational monarchs, but only a select few are vested with constitutional and\or legal powers, and therefore the majority of them are little more than traditional notables in practice. The Ashanti Confederacy in Ghana is led by Asantehene (King) Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II; the succession is decided by a series of councils of local nobles and other royal family members. KwaZulu-Natal (or Zululand) is led by the king of the Zulu Nation, currently Misuzulu Zulu. Although he does not hold any direct political power, he is provided a stipend by the government of South Africa, and holds considerable sway over more traditionalist Zulu people in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Both the Asantehene and the Zulu monarch are part of complex networks of other kings and chiefs that constitutionally serve as traditional leaders of their respective countries.
Due to constitutional reform in Uganda in 1993, several traditional monarchies have been politically reconstituted by the government of Yoweri Museveni. These are:
Elsewhere, in Botswana, the kgosis (or chieftains) of the various tribes are constitutionally empowered to serve as advisors within the national legislature as members of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the various traditional polities that currently exist are politically defined by way of the ceding of definite authority from the provincial governments, which in turn receive their powers to do so from a series of chieftaincy laws that have been legislatively created. Beyond this, residual powers are also derived by the Nigerian traditional rulers from both pre-existing customary laws and the remnants of the indirect rule policy of the colonial era.
Historically, there have been several monarchies throughout the African continent. Since decolonization, many have been abolished in favor of republics. The following African monarchies have existed in the twentieth century:
Several African colonies were under the sovereignty of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom. Upon independence, several states became Dominions or Commonwealth realms, sharing their head of state with the United Kingdom. All have subsequently abolished the monarchy:
Somalia and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic are colored according to their de jure form of government. The former is a failed state, the latter is mostly under military occupation by Morocco, although the SADR does administer some territory.
in a one-party state, there may be theoretical or legal protection for opposition parties, but there is no legitimate chance of a candidate outside the ruling party winning an election; often there are constitutional provisions protecting one-party dominance. While no AU state is constitutionally defined as such, the following are effectively one-party states:
A further distinction is the number of chambers in the national legislature; either with one or two houses. There is no clear trend towards either model as of 2006[update], and there's also no real common factor which determines whether a country's legislature is unicameral or bicameral, except for the fact that federations and countries with strong regional differences or regional identities are normally bicameral to reflect the regions' interests in national bills.
The function and form of the houses vary widely; some are directly elected, others indirectly or appointed, some have legal provisions for minority representation, based either on ethnicity, religious affiliation, or gender. In Cameroon and Malawi, there are legally two houses, but only one is functional.
There are presently 34 unicameral legislatures and 19 bicameral legislatures in among AU member states.
Members of the People's National Assembly are directly elected every five years. The Council of the Nation has two-thirds of its members elected by regional and municipal authorities; one-third are appointed by the president to six-year terms with one-half of the seats up for election or reappointment every 3 years.
Members are elected to five-year terms by proportional representation, 21 from one national constituency and 90 from 13 regional constituencies, with two to 10 per region, using the party-list proportional representation system.
Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms in 17 multi-member constituencies by the D'Hondt method of proportional representation with a 2% barrier; 100 are directly elected and between 18 and 21 are co-opted. Constitutionally, 60% of members be from the Hutu ethnic group, while the remaining 40% come from the Tutsi ethnic group. Members of the Senate are elected for five-year terms by electoral colleges of communal councilors. Two senators, one Hutu and one Tutsi, are chosen by electoral colleges of communal councilors in each of the country's 17 provinces. Voting takes place using a three-round system. In the first two rounds, a candidate must receive a super-majority (two-thirds, or 67% of the vote) to be elected. If no candidate is elected in these rounds, a third round is organized for the two leading candidates, of which the candidate receiving the majority of votes is elected. Former heads of state automatically become senators. In both houses, three co-opted members represent the Twa ethnic group and women must occupy at least 30% of the seats; extra seats can be added to ensure that ethnic and gender quotas are met.
Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms in 49 single- and multi-seat constituencies. The Constitution of Cameroon established of a 100-member senate as part of a bicameral legislature, with one-third of senators to be appointed by the President of Cameroon, and the remaining two-thirds to be chosen by indirect election. The government has yet to establish the Senate.
Members are elected to five-year terms by proportional representation, in 16 multi-member constituencies by the D'Hondt method of proportional representation.
Members are elected to five-year terms; 18 directly in single member constituencies using two-round run-off voting, 15 from local assemblies on each of the three islands of Anjouan, Mohéli, and Grande Comore.
Members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms in single-seat constituencies. Members of the Senate are elected to six-year terms by the district, local, and regional councils.
The House sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the president. All seats are voted on in each election. The House of Representatives members are elected by absolute majority of legitimate votes cast.
Members of the House of People's Representatives are elected to five-year terms in single-seat constituencies; 22 of these seats are reserved for minority nationalities and peoples. Members of the House of Federation are elected by State Councils that may either have direct elections or chose their member of the House. Constitutionally, "[E]ach Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at least one member. Each Nation or Nationality shall be represented by one additional representative for each one million of its population."
Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies, with nine members appointed by the President of Gabon. Members of the Senate are elected for six-year terms in single-seat constituencies by local and departmental councillors.
Members are elected to five-year terms in single-member constituencies with plurality voting; 48 are directly elected while the remaining five are appointed by the President of the Gambia.
Members are elected to four-year terms – except in times of war, when their mandate can extend to five years – from single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote.
Members are elected to five-year terms, 38 in single-seat constituencies with plurality voting, and 76 by proportional representation using national party-lists.
Members are elected for five-year terms in multi-member constituencies, with 100 members elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and two seats reserved for Guinea-Bissau citizens living overseas, but they were not filled in the most recent election.
Members are elected for five-year terms; 210 in single-seat constituencies, 12 nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis, and 2 ex officio appointments, the Attorney-General and the Speaker.
Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms; 80 in single-seat constituencies, with plurality voting, 40 through proportional representation and national party-lists. In the Senate, 22 members are hereditary principal chiefs and 11 are nominated by the King of Lesotho, all for five-year terms.
Members of the House are elected for six-year terms in single-seat constituencies distributed among Liberia's fifteen counties based on its total number of registered voters. Each county is guaranteed by law to have at least two seats. Members of the Senate ar elected for nine-year terms in single-seat constituencies with two senators for each of Liberia's counties.
Members of the National Assembly are elected to four-year terms in a mix of single- and two-member constituencies. Members of the Senate are elected to six-year terms, with 10 members for each province chosen by provincial electors and 30 members are appointed.
Members of the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms in single- and multiple-seat constituencies; 147 are directly elected with two-round run-off votes, the other 13 represent the Malawian community abroad on a separate ticket. The Constitution of Malawi established of an 80-member senate as part of a bicameral legislature, with representation for traditional leaders and the different geographical districts, as well as various special interest groups, such as women, youth, and the disabled. The government has yet to establish the Senate.
Members are elected to five-year terms, 147 members elected in single-seat constituencies with party-list proportional representation and 13 members elected by Malians abroad.
Members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms in single-seat constituencies. Members of the Senate are elected to six-year terms by municipal councillors with one-third renewed every two years and three members elected by Mauritanians abroad.
Members are elected for four-year terms in single-seat constituencies; 62 are directly elected eight are appointed by the Supreme Court to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are equitably represented.
The House of Representatives or the lower house. 395 members elected directly for a five-year term. The House of Councillors is elected indirectly for a six-year term by two sets of electoral colleges.
Members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms, 72 by proportional representation, and six appointed by the President of Namibia. Members of the National Council are elected to six-year terms in double-seat constituencies (regions).
Members are elected for five-year terms by party-list proportional representation, with a 5% barrier; 105 elected in multi-seat constituencies and eight in single-seat national minority constituencies.
Members of the House of Representatives are elected to four-year terms in single-member constituencies using the simple majority system. Members of the Senate are elected to four-year terms in three-member constituencies (one for each of Nigeria's states), except the federal district of Abuja, which has one representative. The House was created to provide proportional representation based on population in Nigeria's states; the Senate represents the states themselves.
Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected to five-year terms; 53 in direct elections by proportional representation, with a 5% barrier, 24 female members are elected by provincial councils, two are appointed by the National Youth Council, and one by the Federation of the Associations of the Disabled. Members of the Senate are elected or appointed for eight-year terms; 12 are elected by provincial and sectoral councils; eight are appointed by the President of Rwanda to ensure the representation of historically marginalized communities, four are appointed by the Forum of Political Formations, and two are elected by the staff of the universities. Additionally, former presidents can request to be members of the Senate.
Members are elected to five-year terms; 25 in single-member constituencies with plurality voting; nine through a system of proportional representation.
Members are elected to five-year terms; 112 through proportional representation in 14 multi-seat constituencies with a constituency threshold of 12.5%, and 12 are paramount chiefs who are indirectly elected.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since the beginning of the Somali Civil War in 1991. Members of the parliament were divided between Somalia's four major clans, with 61 seats each, while an alliance of minority clans was awarded 31 seats.
Members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms through proportional representation, half of whom are chosen from nationwide party lists, the other from party lists for each province. Members of the National Council of Provinces are appointed in groups of ten by provincial legislatures for five-year terms.
A member of the National Legislative Assembly cannot also be a member of the Council of States (and vice versa). The term of the National Legislature shall be four years from July 9, 2011. The Constitution is a transitional Constitution and the terms relating to future general elections are not contained in it. However, there are provisions included for by-elections should vaccancies arise during the first four-year period.
Members of the National Legislature are elected to six-year terms. Members of the National Assembly are appointed by the government; members of the Council of States are elected by the state legislatures.
Members of the House of Assembly are elected to five-year terms in single-member constituencies corresponding to the tinkhundlas (tribal communities): 14 are located in the Hhohho, 11 in Lubombo, 16 in Manzini, and 14 in Shiselweni. Candidates are first nominated at the tinkhundla level and face a primary election, with a run-off for the top three finishers, where the candidate who receives the most votes is declared elected. The King of Swaziland appoints 10 members to the House. Members of the Senate are elected to five-year terms; 20 members are appointed by the King, 10 are elected by the House of Assembly.
Members are elected to five-year terms; 236 elected in single-seat constituencies (181 from Tanganyika, 50 from Zanzibar); 75 (20%) are women nominated by the President of Tanzania by party; 10 are appointed by the president; the remaining two are ex officio members. Zanzibar has its own House of Representatives to make laws especially for Zanzibar. The House of Representatives of Zanzibar has 81 members who serve five-year terms, 50 elected in single-member constituencies using plurality voting; 10 appointed by the President of Zanzibar; five are reserved for government-appointed regional commissioners; 15 seats are reserved for women and are filled on a party basis; the final seat is reserved for the Attorney-General.
Members of the National Assembly members are elected to five-year terms; 215 in single-member constituencies; 78 from special interest groups, including 69 District Women Representatives, 10 army representatives, five youth representatives, five representatives for the disabled, and five from trade unions; 13 are ex officio members.
Members are elected to five-year terms; 150 in single-member constituencies using simple plurality, eight are appointed by the President of Zambia, and one is an ex officio member.
Members of the House of Assembly are elected to five-year terms; 120 in single-member constituencies using the simple majority, 12 are appointed by the President of Zimbabwe, eight are provincial governors who hold reserved seats; 10 are held by traditional chiefs who are chosen by their peers. In the Senate, 50 members (five from each province) are directly elected in single-member constituencies by simple majority, six are appointed by the president, and additional members and the remaining 10 seats are held by traditional chiefs who are chosen in separate elections.
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. Constitutional monarchies differ from absolute monarchies in that they are bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework.
A head of state is the public persona of a state or sovereign state. The specific naming of the head of state depends on the country's form of government and separation of powers; the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.
These are lists of incumbents, including heads of states or of subnational entities.
A monarch is a head of state for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Usually a monarch either personally inherits the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights or is selected by an established process from a family or cohort eligible to provide the nation's monarch. Alternatively, an individual may proclaim oneself monarch, which may be backed and legitimated through acclamation, right of conquest or a combination of means.
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for life or until abdication, usually a hereditary position acquired by some form of nominal divine right or blessing, or religious sanction. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic, to fully autocratic, and can span across executive, legislative, and judicial domains.
A federation is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision, neither by the component states nor the federal political body without constitutional amendment.
A unitary state is a state or sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions. Such units exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to regional or local governments by statute, the central government may alter the statute, to override the decisions of devolved governments or expand their powers. The modern unitary state concept originated in France; in the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, national feelings that emerged from the war unified France. The war accelerated the process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a unitary state. The French then later spread unitary states by conquests, throughout Europe during and after the Napoleonic Wars, and to the world through the vast French colonial empire.
The decolonisation of Africa was a series of political developments in Africa that spanned from the mid-1950s to 1975, during the Cold War. Colonial governments gave way to sovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organised revolts. Major events in the decolonisation of Africa included the Mau Mau rebellion, the Algerian War, the Congo Crisis, the Angolan War of Independence, the Zanzibar Revolution, and the events leading to the Nigerian Civil War.
The individual member states of the African Union (AU) coordinate foreign policy through this agency, in addition to conducting their own international relations on a state-by-state basis. The AU represents the interests of African peoples at large in intergovernmental organizations (IGO's); for instance, it is a permanent observer at the United Nations' General Assembly.
The Sahrawi National Council or Sahrawi Parliament is the legislature of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The present speaker since 2020 is Hamma Salama.
The Nepalese democracy movement was the combination of a series of political initiatives and movements from the 20th century to 2008 that advocated the establishment of representative democracy, a multi-party political system and the abolition of monarchy in Nepal. It has seen three major movements, the Revolution of 1951, Jana Andolan and Loktantra Andolan which ultimately abolished the Shah monarchy, transitioned Nepal towards a republic and reintroduced multi-party bicameral democracy.
The following is an alphabetical list of subregions in the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, used by the United Nations and maintained by the UNSD department for statistical purposes.
Monarchy was the prevalent form of government in the history of Africa, where self-governing states, territories, or nations existed in which supreme power resided with an individual who was recognized as the head of state. Many such states exist today. All are similar in that the sovereign inherits their office and typically keeps it until their death or until their abdication.
The African Union covers almost the entirety of continental Africa and several off-shore islands. Consequently, it is wildly diverse, including the world's largest hot desert, huge jungles and savannas, and the world's longest river.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the continent Africa:
A non-sovereign monarchy, subnational monarchy or constituent monarchy is one in which the head of the monarchical polity, and the polity itself, are subject to a temporal authority higher than their own. The constituent states of the German Empire or the princely states of the Indian Empire during British rule provide historical examples; while the Zulu king, whose power derives from the Constitution of South Africa, is a contemporary one.
The 17th Ordinary African Union Summit was held 28 June 2011 through 1 July 2011 in Malabo, the capital city of the Equatorial Guinea. In addition to the meeting of AU heads of state, the AU summit in Malabo included the 19th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC).
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