Representations of African Democracy as Prescription for Africa’s Governance in David Mulwa's "Inheritance" and Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk To Freedom"

Abstract

The introduction of the nation state and democratic governments in Africa were considered the most appropriate prescriptions for the economic and political malaise in African communities. The nation state supplanted traditional forms of governance, but decades after establishment of nation states in Africa, political upheavals continue to rock the continent. The advent of Western democracy has exacerbated negative ethnicity as leaders mobilize their ethnic communities to attain political mileage. This study examines the merits of African democracy in governance as represented in David Mulwa’s Inheritance and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom. In the recent past, scholars have underlined the need to establish Western democracy despite its susceptibility to binaries uncharacteristic of African culture. Using postcolonial theory, the study juxtaposes traditional and modern systems of government as represented in the two primary texts. Utilizing qualitative inquiry, the study deploys narrative research to analyze data from primary and secondary texts, anchored in the ideas of Edward Blyden and Aimé Césaire as the bases of interpretation, and concludes with attributes of a system of government believed to be best suited for contemporary Africa.