The road to constitutionalism and democracy in post-colonial Africa: the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

This study on "The road to constitutionalism and democracy in post-colonial Africa: the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo" revolves around a major research problem: What has been the road to constitutionalism and democracy in Africa since independence and how can constitutionalism and democracy be established and consolidated on the African continent? The importance of the problem and its implications for the life of millions of African people and the state of the literature still dominated by persons foreign to Africa make constitutionalism and democracy one of the most fascinating and challenging intellectual projects, particularly among African scholars. This work is a contribution to the development of knowledge and to the building and consolidation of constitutionalism and democracy in Africa. It revisits and critically examines the concepts and the various discourses and voices we have heard form both inside and mostly outside the continent. It highlights the African struggle, explores the major trends, and stresses the challenges and prospects for constitutionalism and democracy in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a case study. The research deals with the unfinished struggle of the people of the Congo and explains why the Congo has gone from DRC to DRC via Zaire, from one crisis of the Congo in the 1960s to another crisis of the Congo since the early 1990s and why the DRC history has been rehearsing in a vicious circle of coups and countercoups, rebellions, unsuccessful national conferences, authoritarian and unconstitutional regimes. Central to the crisis in many African states, including the DRC, is the crisis of constitutionalism and democracy and the failure of the post-colonial state. The study ends with the conclusion that constitutionalism and democracy also belong to Africa and constitute a prerequisite for African survival and renaissance.