CHARACTERISTIC OF MULTIPARTISM IN E. AFRICA
Prepared by shamily
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dodoma tanzania
1. Are there general characteristics of political parties in East Africa ?
2. Which qualities should parties possess in order to be able to continue constructively to political transition?
3. Which internal safeguards should be in place in order to develop these qualities?
4. What external safeguards should be in place?
General characteristics of political parties in East Africa
The general characteristics of political parties in East Africa were cataloged as positive and negative.
Positive characteristics
The positive attributes of political parties were outlined as:
§ the role of checking government excesses
§ acting as a mouthpiece of popular will of their constituencies.
Negative characteristics
On the negative note, political parties were described as:
§ being tribally/ ethnically based
§ lacking in national character
§ Being elitist and elite based: and having urban based leadership.
§ financially unsound;
§ lacking strong organizational structures, internal democracy, financial management, transparency and accountability,
§ Lacking focus and ideological orientation and based on foreign concepts.
Qualities of parties to constructively contribute to political transition
For parties to be able to contribute constructively to political transition, they should:
§ Have a national character and should not be not be based along ethnic or religious lines. Parties should have issue based agendas reflective of peoples interests
§ identify a political ideology and have published manifestos;
§ exercise internal democracy including transparency in management;
§ be gender sensitive and embrace intergenerational issues;
§ have clear, defined, accessible organisational and physical structures including a permanent secretariat as well as qualified personnel and
§ Have sound financial base in order to foster financial independence.
Internal safeguards to ensure qualities of parties to constructively contribute to transition
In order for political parties to have qualities that would enable them to be able to constructively contribute to political transition, a number of internal safeguards to develop these qualities were listed. Political parties should have:
§ strong alternative governance programmes
§ a permanent and professional secretariat that separates management from political issues;
§ an adequate internal policy framework such as proper financial, accounting and audit systems, conflict resolution policy, and a code of conduct.
§ Good internal communication flows within the party structure
§ a good constitution that allows control, ownership and decision-making by the membership but also allows the party leaders to account to the membership
§ a membership educational programme on various issues including the party constitution and regulations.
§ Strong party leadership with role models
§ continuous inter party recruitment and mobilization initiatives, strategic planning and periodic update of policies
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Chapisha Maoni