Constitutionalism, Democratic Governance and the African State
The Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, popularly known by its acronym LECIAD, has since its initiation in 1989 (as a joint project between Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Ghana) certainly made its mark and successfully created a niche for itself as an internationally known centre of excellence in research into, and in the teaching, learning and manpower development in the complex but dynamic fields of diplomacy and international relations.
Advertisement
Diplomacy and International Relations have always been in a state of flux; but their dynamics and breathtaking twists and turns have in recent times played out within a broader global context of a still-ongoing framework of globalisation and insecurity.
It is in commemoration of the first 25 years of LECIAD’s fruitful existence that the institution of excellence has come out with a 392-paged, ten chaptered book titled Constitutionalism, Democratic Governance and the African State. The present review thematically focuses on that book.
The foreword
The current Director of LECIAD, Professor Henrietta Joy Mensah-Bonsu, in her succinct but carefully thought-out foreword to the book, aptly notes in relation to Africa that ‘today, the continent faces many challenges that are even more difficult to surmount than those of previous decades. Clearly, new thinking is required on what to do and how to do it. Thus, whether it is violent extremism or the advent of ferocious new diseases decimating populations and national economies, the continent finds itself having to rethink some of its answers and review some of its approaches’ (p. iii). The publication under review here is, in the words of the institution’s director, ‘thus intended to be a celebration of LECIAD’s contribution to the intellectual discourse on international affairs these past twenty-five years’ (p. iv).
One can happily report that those animating objectives are fully met in the work under review.
Contributors
Ten eminent scholars, all of whom are LECIAD-based or LECIAD-related, make chapter contributions towards the book under review. These scholars comprise Vladimir Antwi-Danso, Boni Yao Gebe, Philip Attuquayefio, Ken Ahorsu, Juliana Appiah, Joachim Mugyenzi, Amanda Coffie, Peace Medie, Linda Darkwa and Afua Boatemaa Yakohene. Each of those distinguished individuals possesses the terminal doctorate degree in various fields of specialisation, and they write and analyse from a wide diversity of perspectives and on an impressive range of topics.
Chapter titles of the book, under which these scholars offer their independent analyses and perspectives, are as follows: ‘Democracy and Good Governance: A Sine Qua Non to Political Stability and Socio-Economic Development in Africa’; ‘Constitutionalism and Democratic Governance in Africa: Toward Enforcement of Policy Instruments’; ‘Multiparty Democracy and Conflict Management in Africa: The Case of Ghana’; ‘A Decade of the African Union and the Quest for Good Governance and Democracy in Africa (2002-2012)’; ‘Global Governance of Collective Challenges: Multi-Level Governance Networks in EU-ECOWAS Co-Governance Framework’; ‘Governance and the Pathology of Human Security in Africa’; ‘A Dark Side of Democratisation in Africa: Displacement of Population and Open Door Asylum in Kenya and South Africa’; ‘Violence Against Women and Women’s Access to Justice in Post-Conflict Liberia’; ‘In Our Father’s Name in our Motherland: The Politics of Women’s Political Participation in Ghana’; and ‘Pursuing Development in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone’.
Editing
The entire book is ably edited by Dr Boni Yao Gebe, an experienced outstanding Senior Research Fellow at LECIAD. He also writes the introduction to the work and to the various chapters. As is to be expected in a serious work of such stature, each chapter carries its endnotes, almost all of which are very impressive and make for greater lucidity and facilitate the acquisition of more information. A detailed bibliography and a very helpful Index are placed at the tail end of the entire work. Pertinent figures, tables and well-sourced statistics are adeptly used in the work under review to support contentions and prop up arguments.
Other Trending Stories
All in all, LECIAD’s welcome effort to produce a significant scholarly monograph to commemorate the first 25 years of its existence comes off successfully. The writers are up to the occasion and the task at hand. The monograph is professionally produced by Black Mask Ltd, a renowned and leading publishing company in Ghana. Both binding and formatting are professionally done. The book is easily readable and pages do not come off at the least pressure.
This book should be read seriously by all in the fast-paced world of contemporary diplomacy and international relations, and also by all who seek further insights into contemporary Africa and the challenges and choices it confronts. Students of Ghana, in particular, should find in this book a ready source of pertinent information and wealthy facts which would serve them well. Issues and themes dwelt on in the book are at such depth and of such significance and interest that this book cannot be only of domestic interest. LECIAD and the publishers should do all it takes to make this gem of a book available on the international literary scene and also on diplomatic circuits, because the book has the potential to further entrench LECIAD, Ghana and Africa as a whole as a strong source of pertinent modern-day scholarly outputs.