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Civil and political strive in Africa is in the main, this is due to an increase in disputes over who won elections. The disputed elections in Kenya, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Ethiopia and more recently Ivory Coast to mention but a few, indicate how disputes over election results in Africa have been escalating. ‘Over the last couple of decades, many elections in Africa have been marred by ‘extreme controversy’. Elections ‘rigging and brigandage’, violence and elections invalidation are common phenomena in Africa. The report prepared by the British-Angola Forum (BAF) following a conference on the challenges for free and fair elections in Angola, reveals that many elections in Africa are ‘subject to human error and manipulation’ and this is mainly because those who are in power want to cling onto it especially ‘in countries where there is a perception that politics means money’. Adejumobi argues that in Africa most elections in their current form appear to be ‘a fading shadow of democracy’ jeopardising the frail democratic project itself. According to the African Union Panel of Wise (AUPW), while in some countries elections have built ‘democratic governance and prosperity of citizens’, in others they have led to disputed results and violence among the political actors. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The objective of this study is to provide a novel working mechanism for the supervision of elections that would no longer be municipal based but rather the subject of a supranational body that is not answerable to municipal authorities. In essence, this study will consider the possibility of a new African Union body responsible for African elections. Rather than just mooting an idea, this study will attempt to justify the need for such a body, as well as answer the practical questions that may hamper the establishment of such a body and also provide for some of the modalities regarding how such a body may work. To enhance the objectives, the study will necessarily commence with a theoretical background of the rationale for having elections. The study will also emphasise on the human rights aspect of elections, namely the right to self determination and the right to participate in public affairs as provided in various human rights instruments. By analysing recent African elections, this study intends to show that the current strategy of wholly relying on municipal electoral authorities is subject to manipulation and can result in humanitarian catastrophes and illegitimate governments. By so doing a justification of introducing a new AU body responsible for supervising African election is made perspicuous / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Professor E.K. EK Quashigah, of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana-Legon, Ghana / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

In a democracy it is the citizens who choose their leaders. Through elections, the people constitute government to preside over public affairs. However, in several African countries the quality of the elections has been vitiated by fraud, incompetence, unequal playing field and violence. Part of the problem is historical. Within the first decade of attaining independence in the 1950s and 1960s, many African regimes rapidly descended into autocracy and many countries formally recognised one-party regimes. Despite many one-party regimes having been abolished after the democratisation wave of the late 1980s and early 1990s, challenges of holding free and fair elections persist. Several elections held since this democratic wave were generally not considered by independent observers as free and fair. Indeed Africa has become well known for flawed elections, such as was the case in the 2007 elections in Kenya, the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe and the 2010 elections in Ivory Coast. Due to the stifled democratic climate, where even elections had a predetermined outcome, coups became a common and regular method of showing discontent or removing government. While the phenomenon of problematic elections is going on, at the continental level, Africa seems to be making renewed commitment towards democratic governance. With the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) through the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in 2000, the AU, inter alia, committed to promoting “democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance” and seems determined to depart from the legacy of poor governance. It is in view of the foregoing background that this research sought to investigate the challenges the judiciary in Africa has faced in adjudicating presidential election disputes. And, in light of the growing trend towards establishing common African democratic standards and seeking collective solutions, the research also sought to explore the viability of establishing a continental supranational mechanism for resolving disputed presidential elections through adjudication. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LLD

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-08T11:25:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Evânio José de Moura Santos.pdf: 2039739 bytes, checksum: b1951e54cd75153dcca601f9d330950e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T11:25:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Evânio José de Moura Santos.pdf: 2039739 bytes, checksum: b1951e54cd75153dcca601f9d330950e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-18 / The study of electoral fraud and the financing of electoral campaigns, grave problems that contaminate the regular dispute for elective positions, responsible for capturing the politician through economic power are the main focus of this doctoral thesis. The analysis of the phenomenon of corruption is carried out by comparing the treaties and conventions that deal with the subject, restricting the investigation to verify the applicable sanctions for the crime of electoral fraud (article 299, Electoral Code) and of the slush fund, perusing the protected legal interest and the devaluation of the criminal conduct practiced. In the context of a constitutional perspective, an analysis of the principle of proportionality and of the implicit criminal warrants is made, concluding that there is insufficient legal protection, especially with regard to the penalties applicable to the practice of said crime, existing a gap in punishability concerning the slush fund. After this confirmation, several proposals for legislative amendment (lege ferenda), imperative to combat electoral fraud, are presented, such as the urgent political reform, adequate campaign funding, typification of the slush fund and money laundering, insertion of rules of compliance within political parties, restriction of party fragmentation and appropriate criminal punishment for candidates, political leaders and voters who violate electoral criminal rules, notably because the practice of electoral fraud constitutes an attack on the Democratic State, causing numerous damages to democracy and citizenship / O estudo da corrupção eleitoral e do financiamento de campanhas eleitorais, graves problemas que contaminam a regular disputa por cargos eletivos, responsáveis pela captação do político pelo poder econômico, consistem no cerne do presente trabalho. Promove-se detida análise do fenômeno da corrupção, fazendo-se o cotejo com os tratados e convenções que versam sobre o assunto, restringindo a pesquisa para a verificação das sanções aplicáveis para o crime de corrupção eleitoral (art. 299, Código Eleitoral) e do caixa dois eleitoral, perscrutando o bens jurídicos tutelados e o desvalor das condutas delituosas praticadas. No âmbito de uma perspectiva constitucional, realiza-se uma análise do princípio da proporcionalidade e dos mandados implícitos de criminalidade, concluindo pela existência de uma proteção jurídica insuficiente, notadamente com relação às penas aplicáveis para a prática de mencionado ilícito, existindo lacuna de punibilidade com relação ao caixa dois eleitoral. Após referida constatação, apresentam-se diversas propostas de alteração legislativa (lege ferenda) imprescindíveis para o combate à corrupção eleitoral, tais como a inadiável reforma política, adequado financiamento de campanha, tipificação do caixa dois e da lavagem de dinheiro eleitoral, inserção de regras de compliance no âmbito dos partidos políticos, restrição a fragmentação partidária e adequada punição criminal para os candidatos, líderes políticos e eleitores que violarem as regras penais eleitorais, notadamente em razão de constituir a prática da corrupção eleitoral verdadeiro atentado ao estado democrático de direito, provocando inúmeros prejuízos à democracia e à cidadania

Does banning opposition candidates from ballots increase the risk that they will turn to bullets instead? Globally, since the end of the Cold War, blatant election rigging tactics (such as ballot box stuffing) are being replaced by 'strategic rigging': subtler procedural manipulations aimed at winning while maintaining the guise of legitimacy in the eyes of international observers. In particular, incumbents (in regimes stuck between democracy and authoritarianism) are turning to 'electoral exclusion', neutralizing key rivals by illegitimately banning certain candidates, in turn reducing the need for cruder forms of election day rigging. I used mixed methods - combining insights from an original global dataset with extensive elite interviews conducted in five countries (Madagascar, Thailand, Tunisia, Zambia, and Côte d'Ivoire) - to establish that electoral exclusion is an attractive short-term election strategy for vulnerable incumbents that produces a much higher chance of victory but comes with high costs in the longer-term. Global probit modeling (using electoral exclusion as an independent variable and coups d'état and civil wars as separate dependent variables) suggests that, since the end of the Cold War, excluding opposition candidates from the ballot roughly doubles the risk of a coup d'état or quadruples the risk of civil war onset. In spite of these risks, incumbents fall into this 'exclusion trap' because of the shortened time horizon that frequently accompanies competitive multi-party elections. Vulnerable incumbents worry more about the short-term risk of losing an election than the long-term but ultimately unknown risk that political violence will ensue after the election. Finally, the inverse corollary of these findings is that inclusion of opposition candidates during multi-party elections can be a stabilizing factor. Though it may seem counterintuitive, fragile 'counterfeit democracies' - and so-called 'transitional' regimes - may be able to stave off existential threats to regime survival by extending an olive branch to their fiercest opponents. These findings combine to form the overarching argument of this dissertation: when opposition candidates are excluded from the ballot, they become more likely to turn to bullets by launching coups d'état and civil wars.

In a democracy it is the citizens who choose their leaders. Through elections, the people constitute government to preside over public affairs. However, in several African countries the quality of the elections has been vitiated by fraud, incompetence, unequal playing field and violence. Part of the problem is historical. Within the first decade of attaining independence in the 1950s and 1960s, many African regimes rapidly descended into autocracy and many countries formally recognised one-party regimes. Despite many one-party regimes having been abolished after the democratisation wave of the late 1980s and early 1990s, challenges of holding free and fair elections persist. Several elections held since this democratic wave were generally not considered by independent observers as free and fair. Indeed Africa has become well known for flawed elections, such as was the case in the 2007 elections in Kenya, the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe and the 2010 elections in Ivory Coast. Due to the stifled democratic climate, where even elections had a predetermined outcome, coups became a common and regular method of showing discontent or removing government. While the phenomenon of problematic elections is going on, at the continental level, Africa seems to be making renewed commitment towards democratic governance. With the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) through the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in 2000, the AU, inter alia, committed to promoting “democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance” and seems determined to depart from the legacy of poor governance. It is in view of the foregoing background that this research sought to investigate the challenges the judiciary in Africa has faced in adjudicating presidential election disputes. And, in light of the growing trend towards establishing common African democratic standards and seeking collective solutions, the research also sought to explore the viability of establishing a continental supranational mechanism for resolving disputed presidential elections through adjudication. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. D.

The research was prompted by constant criticism of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) because of its poor voter registration and voters’ roll. Free and fair elections are the strong arm of democracy. The identified research problem was investigated by means of qualitative research. A thorough literature study from various sources of information, a case file analysis and structured interviews were used to gather the required data. The interviews were conducted with fingerprint experts, a data processor and constituency electoral assistants from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, the National Identity and Civil Registry at the Ministry of Home Affairs and the IEC respectively. It was found that using fingerprints and the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) can assist in investigations and in combating voter’s fraud, as fingerprints are unique. AFIS can be utilised for various purposes by institutions in the private and public sectors. Like any apparatus, AFIS has its own strengths and weaknesses. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic investigation)

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished