By Madi Jobarteh
From Tanzania to Cameroon, continental bodies like the AU are endorsing electoral farces, exposing their hypocrisy, and making them obstacles to progress.
On Monday, as Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in inside a military barracks in Tanzania, a cloud of injustice hangs over the ceremony. Hundreds of her citizens lay dead, many more tortured and disappeared, and major opposition leaders were banned or jailed ahead of an election she claimed to win with 98% of the vote. Yet, instead of condemnation, she received congratulations and endorsements from the African Union (AU) and various presidents within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This is not an anomaly. It is the rule.
Interestingly, these disgraceful congratulations came even before the final election observation report from the SADC was issued. Today, November 3rd, SADC’s election observation mission (SEOM) led by Richard Msowoya, former speaker of the Malawi Parliament issued their report with this conclusion,
“In conclusion, the SEOM observed that the pre-election and opening phases were conducted in an orderly manner. In view of the Mission observations as detailed above, and mindful of the preliminary nature of this statement, it is the SEOM’s tentative conclusion that, in most areas, voters could not express their democratic will. Overall, the 2025 General Election in the United Republic of Tanzania fell short of the requirements of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”
Unfortunately, and without surprise, SEOM also fell short in declaring that the election therefore did not reflect the undiluted will of the people, hence unfair and call for annulment.
In Cameroon, Paul Biya, one of the world’s longest-serving rulers, secured a surreal eighth term. In Ivory Coast, octogenarian Alassane Ouattara claimed a controversial fourth term amid widespread allegations of malpractice. In all three cases, a common thread emerges: the brazen use of state power to crush dissent and manipulate elections, followed by a swift, shameful endorsement from the very continental and sub-regional bodies tasked with preventing such abuses.
What does this tell us? It reveals a devastating truth: the AU and its regional blocs like SADC and Ecowas have become little more than mutual-aid societies for sitting presidents, actively betraying the African people they are supposed to serve.
These institutions are not lacking in principles on paper. The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the Ecowas Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections clearly prohibit constitutional manipulation, abuse of incumbency, and the deployment of security forces in elections. They call for equal participation, free expression, and opposition rights. Yet, these sacred provisions are violated with impunity and endorsed by the very bodies meant to uphold them.
In Tanzania, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast, these very violations glared brightly for all to see. The response from our continental guardians? A collective shrug and a congratulatory telegram. By acknowledging human rights violations while simultaneously endorsing the perpetrators, the AU and its blocs have made themselves the laughingstock of the world, just that they are the only ones who do not recognize their own farce.
This failure is not incidental; it is systemic. The state in Africa has been hijacked. The post-colonial dream of independence has been corrupted into a nightmare where a self-perpetuating political class uses national and continental offices not for public service, but for private gain. They constitute the assemblies and authorities of these very bodies, creating a perfect circle of impunity where leaders refuse to hold their peers accountable.
The consequences are written large across the continent: poverty, corruption, and insecurity have become Africa’s face. We are the continent with the oldest and longest-serving presidents, who claim legitimacy through dysfunctional and sham elections. Is it any wonder that coups and civil wars are endemic and widespread?
At a time when the world is sliding into authoritarianism with white supremacist leaders in the West, Russia and China’s growing influence, and the erosion of international law, the AU and its subregional bodies should have stood as moral beacons. Instead, they have become shadows of cowardice and collusion, succumbing to the whims of sitting presidents and demonstrating a profound disinterest in the peace and stability they were created to uphold.
Given their demonstrated dishonesty and incompetence, it is clear that they cannot and will not reform from within. The AU and its regional blocs are complicit in Africa’s decline. They are political clubs of incumbents protecting each other from accountability. They have failed to defend national constitutions, failed to uphold their own instruments, and failed the African people. Their selective silence in the face of tyranny exposes their illegitimacy.
Africans are thus left with a painful conclusion. The post-colonial state in Africa has failed. It has been hijacked by its own sons and daughters who traded the people’s freedom for personal gain. The AU and its regional blocs have become obstacles to genuine democracy and development. The flags we wave are empty symbols without the economic independence and dignity they are meant to represent. If Africa, with its vast resources and potential, is not the superpower it ought to be, the answer is simple: it has been hijacked from within. It is time for a reset
Africans must now rise, not only against corrupt national governments but also against these captured continental institutions. The time has come to dismantle and rebuild them from the ground up, rooted in people’s sovereignty and dignity.
The unqualified endorsement of the electoral farces in Tanzania, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast is the final proof. The time for polite appeals is over. Africans must now rise to demand new structures and new leaders. That is, a genuine reset that builds states and continental bodies rooted not in the interests of a privileged club, but in the aspirations of the African people. Our future depends on it.
Down With This Decadent Africa!
