Whither NGOs and Democracy in Africa?

Abstract

NGOs play an important role in the African political economy. What role they actually play as opposed to what role they are supposed to theoretically play has been the subject of this analysis. Although NGOs and civil society may have an important theoretical role to play in the democratization of a country, in Uganda their role is still very limited by internal weaknesses, structural and historical limitations and regime barriers. NGOs and civil society in Uganda are not unique in this regard. In Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, the Gambia and Senegal few NGOs have established structures with wide participation (Wellard and Copestake, 1994, p. 290). In other words there is an assumption in the literature that NGOs, simply because they are NGOs, will promote and favour the empowerment of the poor, the decentralization of power and work towards more effective political participation. But as this analysis shows, this is not necessarily the case. Even in the more developed civil societies like Senegal and the Gambia (before the military coup), the record of NGOs in democratizing development has been blemished (Wellard and Copestake, 1994, p. 290). Similarly, most regimes co-opt opposition, restrict NGO activity that is deemed too political, and attempt to co-ordinate NGOs into a national development scheme.