Power grabs endanger the democratization process in Africa. Coups d’état seem to have become an endemic evil in Africa. In less than a year, the African continent has experienced at least eight coups and coup attempts. In Niger, a coup attempt happened on 31 March, 2021. In Chad, shortly after Idriss Déby’s death in April 2021, his son, Mahamat Déby, took over the leadership. On 24 May 2021, Assimi Goita overthrew Bah N’daw, then Malian transitional president. The Constitutional Court declared Goita President of transition. In Tunisia, on July 25, 2021, Kais Saied dismissed the prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, and suspended Parliament for about 30 days. This phenomenon has been regarded as a coup d’état without recourse to arms. On September 5, 2021, military personnel dominated Conakry. President Alpha Condé was deposed and imprisoned. Subsequently, the constitution and some institutions were dissolved. On October 25, 2021, a coup jeopardized the transitional government in Sudan when Abdalla Hamdok, prime minister, and other senior government officials were arrested by a group of seditious. Subsequently, the Sovereign Council was dissolved. Equally, on January 23, 2022, Paul Damiba led a coup d’état alongside the Army which forced President Roch Kaboré to resign. Gunfire and uproar at the Government Palace marked the first day of February 2022 in Bissau. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló said that the scammers intended to kill him and the Prime Minister.

Because these are pressing issues in so many of African countries, the editorial board of Chiedza, Journal of Arrupe Jesuit University, for the December 2021 Issue, invited contributors to reflect on democratization process in Africa by answering the following question: “Democracy in Africa: Myth or Reality?” The first article to provide an answer to this question is by Pierre NYANDWI who investigates the root causes of democratic backsliding in Burundi. He argues that one of the biggest problems that affects the democratization process in Africa, in general, and in Burundi, in particular is the lack of authenticity of political leaders. For Pierre, democracy remains an ideal political system for the majority of African countries, especially Burundi that recognizes different cultures. Perhaps, this explains the reason why certain African countries have not yet managed to identify their preferred political system. Pierre provides various solutions to how this rejection of democracy can be checked. Patience GANYEKA analyzes the issue of power-grabbing in Africa. She argues for military-led political transition in Africa. To this end, she uses the instances of the 2011 and 2021 Egyptian and Mali military-led political transitions, respectively. Then, she presents eight conditions for a military-led political transition to take place which, according to her, may be the guiding principles against which any military intervention can be deemed either a coup or military-led political transition.

Jean Gaetan NYURAHAYO argues that orders such as national lockdowns that governments around the world have adopted to curb the spread of the virus responsible for Covid-19 are undemocratic. Much as he understands the need to control the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19, he argues that there will be no future of democracy unless citizens are free and that their freedom is respected. This follows from the fact that freedom (of speech, movement, and assembly, just to mention a few) is one of the pillars of democracy. His second argument is that mutual loyalty should always override what is commonly called consent in democratic states and, therefore, the rule of the majority during the times of pandemics such as that of Covid-19. For Kanenje STANISLAUS, the claim that Africa lacks democracy is ironical and a sign of ignorance. It is a fruit of a biased generalization and it needs to be corrected because it is not only a heresy in African politics, but an insult to African people. In fact, there have been recent examples of progressive democracy in Africa one of which is the adoption of Devolved Governance in Kenya in 2013. With this kind of development in the Kenyan political arena, Kanenje argues that devolution deepens democracy. To achieve this goal, he traces the background to devolution in Kenya after which he examines the impact of Kenya’s devolved governance. Michael ODHIAMBO challenges party politics in Africa in some eastern African countries. He pays particular attention to Kenya. He argues that party politics in Africa has shifted from their main aim at inauguration to a driver of ethnic division. Thus, party politics is a failure because it fuels division. It is a result of ethnicization of political parties. So, Odhiambo proposes Kwasi Wiredu’s consensual democracy as an alternative for ethnic based party politics in Africa and a call to return to the roots of consensus as democracy.

The Kingdom of Eswatini is Africa’s last standing absolute monarchy. In June 2021, it experienced three weeks of protests which saw looting and arson across the country. The protests were marked by violent clashes between security forces and demonstrators who called for democratic reforms. The unrest in Eswatini demonstrates the frustrations of some pressure groups and the general public by the continuation of monarchial rule that has its roots in Swazi tradition and is familiar to most people in the kingdom. Hence, Moolisa Stephen TLALI explores the factors surrounding the struggle for democracy against a history of monarchial rule that persisted pre and post-colonial Eswatini. Timóteo PORTÁSIO analyzes and appreciates the roles that civil society organizations play in the Mozambican democratization process. He argues that despite their disadvantages, civil society organizations solidify the Mozambican democratization process. Paul BEKONE questions the concept of African Unity (AU). He reasons that the crises which Africa underwent and still undergoes may be traced to internal crises within the different states of Africa, including ethnicity, nationalism among member countries, and over-dependence on the West. These persistent factors raise the question to whether African Unity will ever be realised or will it remain a Utopia that it is at the moment?

Developmental challenges are some of the subjects that are central to an understanding of contemporary Africa. Landry KUMA-KUMA looks at the issue of development from the perspective of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He laments the fact that Congo DR, sixty years after independence, still struggles to materialize Patrice Emery Lumumba’s dream to see Congo DR prosperous and developed. Indeed, despite the extraordinary diversity and quantity of its natural resources, Congo DR still sinks into indescribable misery. One of the major causes of this poverty is poor governance and the lack of strong vision of political leaders. Hence, Landry critically questions the political leadership in Congo DR. He proposes some possible solutions for the advent of a new leadership capable of materializing that dream of Patrice Emery Lumumba. Victor MANIRAKIZA slightly shifts the discussion from democracy to power. He uses three novels of Chinua Achebe, (i) Things Fall Apart, (ii) A Man of the People, and (iii) Arrow of God, to analyze the seats of power. To be precise, he connects these three novels and shows how the nature of power changes from Things Fall Apart to Arrow of God and to A Man of the People. In the first novel, the power structures of Umuofia are divided between the secular and the religious in such a way that the latter supersedes the former. In the second novel, there is a question to whether the religious authority should exert control over secular matters due to an unclarified contract between Ulu and Umuaro. The last novel on the list depicts the fiasco of nationalism and he traces it to the process of colonization which Achebe presents in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God.

These articles are followed by a theological and or spiritual reflection and two poems. Festus AMAECHI EDEH reflects that God works through the instrumentality of simple hearts like that of Monseigneur Christophe Munzihirwa, SJ., who was the Archbishop of Bukavu on whom this reflection is based. Having found himself in the midst of the socio-political crises which swept through Mobutu’s Zaire and its neighbors in the 1990s, he was not afraid to match actions with words in condemning the key actors and, at the same time, he manifested an exemplary pastoral leadership in the time of crisis. The first poem, “A Plea to be Heard” is by Anesu MASHUMBA. The second poem, “Confissão” is by Mário Virgílio CIPRIANO.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of several individuals who worked tirelessly to materialize this enterprise. Firstly, I want to extend my gratitude to Mr. Tyolumun Tsaor, the Assistant editor-in-Chief, for his never-failing assistance. Secondly, I owe gratitude to Prof. Anthony Chennells, the Staff Advisor, for his dedication to this Journal. Thirdly, I want to thank Dr. Isaac Mutelo and all members of the Department of Research, Innovation, and Publication at Arrupe Jesuit University. Finally, my special gratitude goes to all the contributors, members of the Chiedza Journal editorial board who edited the articles, reflections, and poems published in this edition, the Arrupe Jesuit University Student Association (AJUSA), and the entire University for, direct or indirectly, contributing to the growth of this endeavor.