Good governance: The role of information, communication and the civil society in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

For decades, the state has been considered as the sole agent of development and governance. However, since the dawn of democracy (which is considered to be the basis for good governance) in the 1980's there has been a paradigm shift in the governance process in sub-Saharan Africa. Different kinds of civil society organizations have mushroomed in the Sub-region, and these have in one way or another contributed to the democratization process of the Sub-region. Civil society organizations play an intermediary role between the citizens and the state. Their contribution to the democratisation process, both during and after the transition period in the different countries of the Sub-region is as varied as they come. On the whole, and to a large extend, the success of democratic transition in sub-Saharan Africa can be attributed to civil society organizations, especially the locally brewed ones, who with the support of the donor community managed to dislodge the hitherto autocratic regimes. The article considers the role of information and communication, the civil society organizations, Librarians and Information Scientists in good governance, with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa. It is in divided into four sections, namely; Section 1 which introduces the concepts of governance and the role of information and communication in the governance process. This is followed by Section 2, which examines the concepts of good governance, the civil society and how they relate to each other; then Section 3 discusses the role of the civil society organizations in the democratisation process of sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, Section 4 presents some concluding remarks of the discussion.