By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
A recently published report by Afrobarometer, with support from the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR), has shown that 77% of Sierra Leoneans reject military rule, a drop from 83%.
The report titled African Insights 2024 focuses on democracy on the African continent, taking into account 39 countries.
The report states “We see similar patterns in rejection of military rule, both with respect to the wide range of responses across countries and in terms of the stark declines in some of them.” The survey period covers Sierra Leone’s democracy from 2012 to 2022.
It says 53% of Sierra Leoneans believe the armed forces should “never” intervene in politics, while 54% support multiparty competition. 72 % reportedly favour presidential term limits.
The report also pointed out that 76% of Sierra Leoneans support democracy, an eight percent drop though.
97% of citizens want freedom in choosing whom they want as their leaders, whilst 92% demand freedom to join any political organization of their choice.
The Afrobarometr further says 70% citizens believed the 2018 General Election was free and fair.
Of 39 countries in Africa surveyed, 53% are willing to countenance the military taking control of government “when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends,” while a minority of 42% instead say the military should never intervene in politics. Moreover, although Africa’s youth differ little from their elders in their support for democracy, they express a greater willingness to tolerate military intervention.
On average across 39 countries surveyed in 2021/2023, the report notes that fewer than half (45%) of respondents described their countries as a full democracy or a democracy with minor problems, and only 37% say they are fairly satisfied or very satisfied with the way democracy works in their countries.
Like Europeans and Americans (Johnson, 2018), the Afrobarometer says Africans have long expressed high levels of trust in their militaries. Six out of 10 Africans (61%) across 39 countries say they trust the armed forces somewhat or a lot, far ahead of the courts (47%), the president (46%), the police (46%), and other institutions. “That doesn’t mean they want the military to govern their country: Two-thirds (66%) reject this idea,” the report notes.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (29/07/24)
