Yaw Nsarkoh, former Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana and Nigeria, has offered a sobering analysis of Africa’s democratic struggles, attributing the continent’s political dysfunction not to simple policy failures but to deep-rooted historical realities.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express following his lecture titled “Iniquities of Iniquity in Our Santa Claus Democracy,” Nsarkoh traced Africa’s democratic challenges to its colonial past, emphasizing that many African leaders inherited fragile and incomplete institutions in a post-colonial environment fraught with unprecedented complexities.
“Our leaders were pioneers navigating without a map or guidebook,” Nsarkoh explained. “Unlike Western democracies, which evolved over centuries with accumulated wealth and stable institutions, African nations were thrust into democratic governance almost overnight, starting from a place of economic and structural disadvantage.”
He underscored the point by questioning the legacy of figures like Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, who had no model to emulate in building a nation from the ruins of colonial rule.
According to Nsarkoh, the political elite who emerged after independence often replicated colonial patterns by consolidating power for personal gain rather than building inclusive institutions. This, he argued, has led to a form of governance that is transactional rather than participatory.
“What we call democracy today is often a marketplace where votes are bought and sold, rather than a genuine engagement between citizens and their leaders,” he said.
Nsarkoh also challenged comparisons between African countries and development success stories like Singapore, pointing out the vastly different starting conditions and warning against simplistic benchmarks.
Highlighting the collapse of local governance structures in Ghana, he painted a picture of a democratic system struggling to deliver accountability, with electoral processes sometimes reduced to “Santa Claus democracy” — a cycle of superficial giveaways instead of meaningful political progress.
Despite his critical stance, Nsarkoh’s reflections call for a deeper understanding of Africa’s unique political context and the urgent need for systemic reforms rooted in historical realities.
“The path to true democracy in Africa requires more than elections; it demands rebuilding institutions that empower citizens and dismantle the lingering shadows of colonialism,” he concluded.
