Democracy under quarantine: political costs of COVID-19 in Africa

Abstract

Earlier analyses of COVID-19 in Africa focused solely on health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. Lately, literature on the political costs of COVID-19 has emerged. This article builds on this latest discourse on this subject. Its principal thrust is that the impact of COVID-19 on the health systems and economy is as important as its impact on democracy. The onset of COVID-19 in Africa came at an inauspicious moment when democracy was in retreat. The political costs of COVID-19 include: (a) human rights violations, (b) weakening constitutionalism, (c) dwindling delivery of services, (d) enfeebled accountability and (e) corruption related to Personal Protective Equipment. State responses to the pandemic point to a possible trend, in some countries, of intensified democratic recession and an upsurge in autocratisation. There are three possible scenarios: (a) autocracy upsurge, (b) entrenchment of anocracy and (c) democracy resilience. While the first two should be avoided, the last scenario should be pursued vigorously.