Tendai Murisa

Since the collapse of the cold war the assumptions around the ‘end of history’ have been overtaken by a ‘clash of civilisations’ and in Africa’s case, it is the ongoing class-based wars/struggles on the distribution of the national cake. [...] The failure to acknowledge and centre the role of citizens as co-creators of development and governance solutions to their daily existential challenges limits the potential of democracy as a system of governance. [...] It is worth reiterating that the efforts to transform the state as well as to strengthen civil society cannot be fully accomplished in the absence of the development and fostering in the population of a culture of responsible citizenry, which feeds both civil society as well as the governmental and political process (Doubon, 2007: 3). [...] We have limited the potential of democracy as a system of governance not only through the alleged rigging of elections but also through the failure to acknowledge and promote the role of citizens within the polity. [...] They have not necessarily invested in developing the voices of the poor and bonds of trust that can be used to unleash community participation in local and national processes outside of the framework of the scope of a defined project.