Report on the Roundtable Workshop on Elections and Conflict Management

The workshop examined how elections in Africa often serve as sources of conflict due to poor management, weak institutional frameworks, and the manipulation of state power by ruling parties. Participants discussed the role of regional bodies like ECOWAS and SADC, the limitations of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and the specific failures of Zimbabwe's 2008 elections. The event concluded with recommendations for strengthening the African Union's role in election observation and the need for national constitutional reforms aligned with continental frameworks.

• Elections in Africa are viewed as a necessary condition for democracy, yet they frequently become sources of conflict themselves, particularly in West Africa where issues include the definition of electoral laws and failure to adhere to election calendars.
• West African election commissions generally fall into two categories: those where political parties are represented and hold wide powers over registration and results (e.g., Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso), and autonomous commissions that monitor rather than organize elections (e.g., Senegal, Mali).
• The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance is seen as a tool for consolidating democracy, but it is criticized for not explicitly recognizing democracy as a right for Africans, despite recognizing the rights of marginalized groups and immigrants in Article 20 Section 5.
• The 2008 elections in Zimbabwe were characterized as flawed due to a lack of impartiality in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, delays in releasing results, biased accreditation of media and observers, and the failure of SADC's 'quite diplomacy' led by President Mbeki.
• African electoral processes typically move through three phases: transitional, consolidation, and routine. While most countries have completed the transitional phase, many struggle to reach the consolidation and routine phases due to weak and manipulatable institutional frameworks.
• The prevalence of presidential systems in Africa, where a president holds nearly all state power, is identified as a factor that increases the potential for elections to trigger conflict.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2008). Report on the Roundtable Workshop on Elections and Conflict Management. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMREPADDISELEC210608.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Report on the Roundtable Workshop on Elections and Conflict Management. 2008. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMREPADDISELEC210608.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Report on the Roundtable Workshop on Elections and Conflict Management |date=19 June 2008 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMREPADDISELEC210608.PDF |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2008report, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Report on the Roundtable Workshop on Elections and Conflict Management}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SEMREPADDISELEC210608.PDF}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }