The Superpower Saved and Stabilized By One Truly Just Leg — The Legal Pillar
Why Developing Nations Especially African Countries Should Refrain From American Form of “Presidential” Democracy.
Let us give it to them — Hands Down — The Supreme Court of the United States of America, USA. The early 21st century true heroes of this remarkable American 244 — year experiment.
Can any mere mortal even conceive of the catastrophic mayhem that would have enveloped the USA if the Supreme Court had gone opposite to the noble, just and wise direction it went?
God Bless the nine justices and all the justices of the lower courts who maintained their fidelity to THE TRUTH, and refused to be cowed by the lies and threats of the Crownless delusional “king”.
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia were held in strict secrecy. Thus, it is most likely that the debate among the founding fathers of the young independent nation, the United States of America, would have included fears that a future President of the nation would seek to use the power of the office to overturn the will of “WE THE PEOPLE”.
Sadly, 233 years later, that is precisely what we have witnessed in the past few weeks, following the November 2020 Presidential election.
At the end of the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately.
A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked 81 year-old Benjamin Franklin: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
By a wisp of the cotton, and thanks to the Courts, self-destructive constitutional and political crises were averted following the November 2020 elections in the USA.
My Oh Mine!!! So we all thought until January 6, 2021, a day which is permanently enshrined in American history for all the undesirable reasons.
So, what are the lessons for the rest of the world watching the most powerful nation on earth, and supposedly the flagship of Democracy stumble to the finished line in its recent Presidential election?
Perhaps the most important lesson is: Refrain from the very complex and expensive American form of Presidential Democracy. The system is not for the faint-hearted. The inherent danger in having so much power appropriated to a profoundly self-centered Head of State with no fidelity to the truth and no concept of absolutes is sadly in full display in the 45th President of the United States.
There are seven non-monarchical heads of State in the world who have been in power for 30 years or more. One of them, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea (August 3, 1979 — -) belongs to the 40-year club as President. Another one, Paul Biya of Cameroon also belongs to the 40-year club first as Prime Minister (June 30, 1975 — November 5, 1982) and as President (November 6, 1982 — -).
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to five of the longest-ruling non-royal national leaders in the world. Paul Biya of Cameroon, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Idriss Deby of Chad. Each one of them has been in power for more than 30 years. That true Democracy and rule of law are abundantly in short supply in these nations go without saying.
What is also true is that in most of the remaining 50 nations in SSA, de facto democratic institutions are gasping in thin air. Suffocated by mammoth corruption at several levels of government, majority of ordinary citizens in SSA are buried in poverty and extreme poverty.
With self-centeredness and lack of love of their fellow citizens as themselves as their modus operandi, the leadership in many nations in SSA is totally devoid of any concept of true democracy and rule of law.
This is why the unsavory deadly insurrection in Washington, D.C., USA on January 6, 2021 is so unbecoming. The mayhem destroyed the most trusted, stable and powerful moral guardrail against geopolitical “trivialization of evil” governance in the world.
Furthermore, legislators in Sub-Saharan African nations who intend to go against a sitting head of State in his or her party clinging to power when the rule of law dictates otherwise, have now been stripped of a solid moral point of reference across the Atlantic ocean, the USA.
It is still not clear to me after decades of searching for answers, what the best form of goverment for African nations should be, given the autocratic proclivities of the vast majority of African leaders. Clearly, a complete transformation of mindset is warranted, which is a steep mountain to climb given the power-worshiping nature of many of the leaders.
Perhaps the answer lies in the British form of parlimentary democracy without the monarchical component. Perhaps the answer lies in some form of government to be conceived by African children yet unborn.
Case in point, the African nation with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also the continent’s most populous nation, Nigeria. Having unwittingly decided to adopt the American system of presidential democracy without solid understanding of its genesis, challenges and the knowledge and mindset required for its execution, the nation finds itself mirred in chronic dysfunction.
The failure of successive Nigerian governments to attend to the most basic needs of its citizens despite the abundance of everything the nation needs to thrive speaks to the urgency of absolute refrain from the American form of presidential democracy by all African nations.
The world continues to watch and hopefully learn as President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris and their team try to solve the monumental problems facing the USA, beginning at 12 noon on Wednesday, January, 20, 2021. We wish them the Lord’s Grace, Protection, Guidance and Blessings.
