Gathaka, The Bible and Democracy in Africawith democracy that embraced political pluralism. With many political
parties in a country it was envisaged that the competing ideas would be
allowed and would provide checks and balances on the Government.
Most countries remained de facto one party state while they were sup-
posed to be de jure multiparty states.^42
Democracy which was supposed to have been the ideal government was
not practiced. The people were not involved in governance as demanded
by democracy. They were made spectators rather than participators in
governance. Elections which were supposed to be enhancing democracy
were not held in time. Where they were held they were filled with mal-
practices of rigging, intimidation and imposition of leaders. Systems of
elections which were not free and fair were devised that abused democ-
racy. It is known that all stable democracies employ an agreed and
workable electoral system appropriate to the circumstances of a given
nation.^43 In 1988 in Kenya a system was introduced for the voters to
queue behind the candidate of their choice. This was described as open
democracy. Consequently the long queues lost while the short queues
won. Violence characterized the election campaigns. Democracy which
in practical terms is a system of government in which political power is
exercised by the people, through representative institution, to which
these representatives are regularly elected was totally abused. Many of
these countries turned into dictatorships. Corruption destroyed the
moral fabric of the society. The economies of the countries deteriorated.
The countries were unable to pay their foreign debts and stringent
measures of structural adjustment policies were put in place by the
Bretton Woods institutions of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. The people became poor and social services like health
and education were run down.
Human rights were violated. The political and fundamental freedoms of
the individual were not guaranteed. There were arbitrary arrests and
detentions without trials. Discrimination on the bases of race, ethnicity,
gender and class dominated in the countries that had gained independ-
(^42) Such countries were like Kenya who from 1969 banned all opposition parties while the
constitution remained allowing political pluralism. In 1982 the parliament entrenched
section 2A in the Constitution which declared that there would only be one political
party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU).
(^43) Samuel Kobia, The Quest for Democracy in Africa, National Council of Churches of
Kenya, Nairobi: 1993, p 1.