Incumbent presidents and ruling events more and more bend the regulation to entrench their energy and silence opposition.
The usage of authorized instruments to entrench political energy and sideline opponents is growing in Africa. This ‘lawfare’ typically presents as presidential term-limit manipulations, reshuffles of the judiciary and exploitation of authorized procedures to maintain energy.
The tactic has emerged throughout the continent in nations comparable to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Togo. It undermines public belief in democratic establishments and creates an uneven political enjoying discipline.
Because the African Union (AU) tries to advance good governance, tackling lawfare should turn out to be indispensable in curbing democratic backsliding.
Lawfare manifests otherwise in several nations. A latest pattern is to govern authorized provisions defining essential dimensions of political energy. This ranges from the delicate use of ambiguous legal guidelines to tilt the political scale in favour of incumbents, to overt constitutional amendments.
One instance of the extra delicate method is utilizing authorized processes to exclude opposition events from elections beneath the guise of non-compliance with electoral legal guidelines. In Tanzania, the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee disqualified the primary opposition social gathering, Chama cha Demokrasia (Chadema), forward of the October 2025 elections, for refusing to signal a brand new electoral code of ethics.
Whereas Tanzania’s 2024 elections regulation mandates compliance, neither the Structure nor the electoral fee has the ability to disqualify events on that foundation. But the regulation was interpreted to exclude the Chadema candidate, giving the ruling social gathering the political benefit and setting a precedent for different provisions to be equally weaponised.
The phenomenon additionally reveals up in contradictory courtroom rulings that generally level to underlying political pursuits. In Zambia, questions arose in regards to the 2018 Constitutional Court docket resolution that then-president Edgar Lungu’s first time period did not depend in the direction of the 2 five-year time period limits. Lungu had appointed a number of of the deciding judges, whose collective ruling allowed him to run for a 3rd time period.
In 2024, the identical courtroom – beneath a brand new administration and with a number of judges eliminated – reversed that ruling. Because of this, Lungu was blocked from contesting the 2026 election. And this time, the courtroom’s resolution handed President Hakainde Hichilema a bonus. (Lungu, who remained politically energetic, died yesterday, on 5 June.)
The dearth of consistency in Zambia’s constitutional courtroom rulings inadvertently uncovered how legal guidelines and their related rulings may very well be manipulated for political acquire.
Quite than violating the regulation outright, these examples present how incumbents use authorized loopholes, time key appointments to neutralise opposition, or selectively implement courtroom choices and rules. This makes detecting and countering lawfare tough – and threatens democratic accountability throughout the continent.
A extra overt manifestation of lawfare is the usage of constitutional assessment processes and the redesign of establishments to entrench energy. These techniques protect a veneer of process whereas advancing the political targets of sure people. Choices are based mostly on parliamentary votes or referendums however seldom adhere to the spirit of a rustic’s structure.
A recurring sample is resetting time period limits, reframing govt powers or overhauling the political system to favour incumbents. This has occurred within the DRC, Zimbabwe and Togo. Within the DRC, President Félix Tshisekedi introduced plans to reform and ‘Congolicise’ the 2006 structure owing to perceptions that it was the product of worldwide mediation. His critics interpret this as a third-term bid.
In Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has denied searching for a 3rd time period. However latest statements by Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi about ‘clarifying’ the structure raised considerations and led to protests by opposition teams.
In Togo, constitutional reforms in 2024 reworked Togo’s presidential political system right into a parliamentary one with out direct presidential elections. The ruling social gathering mentioned the transfer would strengthen democracy, however for the opposition and civil society, it amounted to a ‘constitutional coup d’état geared toward circumventing presidential time period limits.’
These techniques quietly erode inherent checks and balances in Africa’s political establishments. Courts and legislatures are being repurposed for partisan ends, and the road between legality and manipulation is being blurred. All these actions set a precedent that can undermine the integrity of political establishments and the equity of elections.
The result’s typically instability. In Zimbabwe, weariness over obvious third-termism has strained relations with battle veterans and sections of the safety sector essential to regime stability. Within the DRC, the pattern is diverting AU Peace and Safety Council (PSC) consideration from resolving the disaster within the nation’s east. In Togo, already fragile civil-military relations may very well be infected.
The AU has robust instruments to take care of the scenario. The African Constitution on Democracy, Elections and Governance, notably Article 23(5), explicitly prohibits constitutional amendments and revisions opposite to the rules of democratic change of presidency. However enforcement has been selective and restricted.
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The PSC has acted solely in instances comparable to Burundi’s 2015/16 third-term disasterthe place 4 separate council communiqués tried to stop then-president Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid. When lawfare has been extra delicate, with legality rigorously masking democratic backsliding, the council has remained largely inactive.
As a result of lawfare techniques aren’t lined within the annual state of peace and safety report offered to the AU Meeting, actions are restricted to monitoring and early warning. The PSC may increase the AU’s bi-annual election reporting to incorporate the manipulation of authorized provisions. This may elevate consciousness and convey points onto the PSC agenda earlier than democratic erosion deepens.
Exposing the growing sophistication of the phenomenon will present a foundation for proactive responses. With out extra assertive motion, Africa dangers a future the place democracy dwindles not by means of troopers and tanks within the streets, however the quiet turning of authorized gears.
This text was first revealed within the ISS PSC Report.
Of the wrestleAnalysis Intern, Africa Peace and Safety Governance, ISS
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