Africa and the problem of the state: can African traditional authority and the Western liberal state be reconciled?

Abstract

The article discusses and analyse the tragedy of Africa, played out in the refusal of African leaders and elites to accept and implement a compromise between African traditional authority, on one hand, and the form of State they inherited from their colonial masters, on the other hand. The focus of the discussion is on the issue of the form of State in South Africa, and on the issue of African traditional authority. The question that is dealt with is whether African traditions of political leadership and political rule can be reconciled with modern democracy. propose, for all levels of government, a legislative assembly with two chambers, one elected through universal franchise, and the second non-elected.


(Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems: 2002 2(2): 27-36)