NAIROBI, KENYA — Election-related meltdowns in Zimbabwe and Kenya are stark reminders of democracy's fragile foothold in Africa, experts say, despite years of financial and diplomatic investment by the United States and other Western nations.
A combination of challenges unique to the continent, including worsening poverty and inconsistent international engagement, is blamed for fueling a string of setbacks. After some progress in the early 1990s, once-promising governments have regressed, particularly around election time.
"Overall, the continent has had a deflation of strong democratic leadership in recent years," said J. Stephen Morrison, Africa director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "In some places we are seeing that autocratic pseudo-democracies have formed."
In addition to disputed presidential elections in Zimbabwe and Kenya, where longtime incumbents refused to cede power after their opponents declared victory at the polls, last year's ruling party victory in Nigeria was widely condemned as flawed. Uganda's president changed the country's constitution to stay in power. Ethiopian government forces killed about 200 opposition supporters after a 2005 vote.
Though there have been democratic success stories, such as Ghana and Sierra Leone, some see the coming years as a crucial period in determining whether much of Africa will move forward in embracing democracy.
"The continent right now seems caught in the middle between the good cases and bad cases," said Chris Fomunyoh, senior associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute, which promotes democratic reform around the world.
Western interest wanes
The Bush administration has been praised for sharply stepping up spending to combat diseases in Africa, including about $19 billion on HIV/AIDs and $1.2 billion on malaria. But it has been less vigilant when it comes to bolstering democratic institutions, analysts say.
Efforts to promote democracy in Africa largely have been confined to Sudan, which was torn by a north-south war and is racked by conflict in the Darfur region, in which more than 200,000 people have died.
Indeed, after a flurry of support in the early 1990s, which helped usher in multiparty systems and stronger institutions, the U.S. and other Western powers have largely focused on the Middle East and Asia.
