ECOWAS: Capacity building for political parties (II)

Experts in group dynamics posit that some the most important ideas at workshops are generated at the working group sessions as participants have better opportunities to tap from experiences of various group members. This proved to be true for the participants at the two day workshop organised by the Economic Commission for West Africa States ECOWAS on the Review and Validation of Training Modules for Political Parties in ECOWAS Member States. It held from September 1-4 2015 in Lagos. The plenary sessions had usual formal items such as the workshop objectives and appreciation of the Commission’s commitment to capacity building in Member states. After each plenary session with resource persons making presentations on the various components of the modules, participants at the group sessions shared interesting perspectives of the state of development of political parties in their various countries. They noted the similarities in the origins of and stages of political parties development in their countries.

In their discussion of the module on Internal Party Democracy and Administrative Processes, they observed that their countries had too many political parties that lacked an organic base, with non functional offices. Most of them were described as dependent, non sustainable ‘brief case’ or ‘feeding bottle’ organisations established to benefit from government funding. Such political parties are often managed as seasonal organisations which remain dormant for years and come alive shortly before elections. The participants stressed the need for the Module to develop strategic and operational action plans that will build capacities of the members of political parties, make them sustainable and keep them fully engaged throughout the electoral circle. On internal democracy, participants observed that many political parties are subjected to domineering influence of ‘party founders,” ‘kingmakers’, ‘godfathers/ godmothers’ who anoint candidates for party positions and sabotage nomination rules for electoral contest. Some of these political parties are therefore torn by internal party disputes leading to fragmentation and fractionalization. These disputes were seen as one of the manifestations of lack of internal democracy within the parties. Such unnecessary distractions only weakened the political parties. The participants therefore agreed on the need for the Module to develop legal frameworks for nominating candidates in order to reduce the unhealthy influence of the party king makers and founders and also establish a conflict resolution mechanisms to address other power dynamics within political parties in the region. Leadership succession in political parties was identified as a critical process that would build on institutional history of political parties and reinforce democratic culture. Participants therefore recommended developing a mentoring and coaching mechanism in political parties which would draw from the experiences of former Ministers or Presidents and other outstanding leaders as part of the process of capacity reinforcement of political parties .

While discussing Political Party Administrative Processes which dovetails into internal governance, participants observed that some political parties in the region entrench a culture of sit tight leaders who manipulate party rules to stay in power. They recommended the development of a legal framework for leadership succession in political parties, reinforcement of administrative and human resources capacities of the members of political party’s administrative team and establishment of durable administrative structures, systems and procedures within political parties.

Participants also observed that in many cases where administrative rules and regulations exist, most members and staff of the political parties are unaware of or fail apply them. They therefore underscored the need to design systems that will promote respect for statutes and internal rule and constitution of political parties by all members. Other necessary action include designing an accountable, realistic and sustainable system of financing political parties and make the ideological foundation of parties to reflect contextual human social security needs of their members in each of the Member State.

On the second day of the workshop participants told interesting stories of fund raising experiences in their various countries while exploring the Module on Campaign Finance. Some of the key issues discussed were identification of the legitimate and illegitimate source of funds, criteria for the government funding all political parties, standards and limit on how much a party member should be allowed to contribute. This section on party funding was considered as one of the weakest sector for most of the political parties in the region. A subject that featured in all the group discussions was that of gender and mainstreaming of youth into political party structures and activities. The Commissioner Political Affairs, Peace and Security Her Excellency, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman had drawn attention to this in her contribution to the workshop. She urged participants to explore existing ECOWAS protocols on the issue. The participants listed items that would mainstream gender in activities of political parties and feature gender balance in elective and appointive positions.

Dr Remi Ajibewa, The Head of Democracy and Good Governance Division, ECOWAS Commission expressed appreciation to the consultants and developers of the modules, namely Professor Oshita Oshita, Professor Bolade Eyinla and Dr. Ibrahim Bangura while the programme officer of the department Mr. Eleysan Okorodudu underscored the need for continued networking among the participants for perfecting the Modules. He noted that the critical mass of ten experts from within and outside the region were very well placed to produce a good manual. They were staff of Electoral Management Bodies, politicians, members of the Executive Steering Committee of the Forum of West African Political Parties (FOWAPP), director political affairs, representatives of Civil Society Organizations, and representatives from research centres and ECOWAS Center of Excellence, as well as experts and trainers on democracy and good governance.