Building Democracy in Africa

About the Book

Senegal is the only black African country never to have had revolution or a military coup. Since its independence from France, the country has established a multitude of political parties and regular organization of presidential and legislative elections. As result there have been 10 presidential elections and four democratically elected presidents. Today, Senegal is seen as a rare model of democracy in a continent better known for confl ict and coups d’états. This essay • Discusses how Senegal has managed to stay much more democratic than other countries in the region. • Draws lessons from Senegal’s experience.

About the Author

Eric Kamba MSW, MPH is a human rights activist and editorial writer and a social worker with the Boston-based Congolese Development Center. Mr. Kamba also is the Refugee Health Assessment Program Administrator at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) which serves the Greater Boston area. In this role, he has been able to work with refugees and immigrants around issues of access to healthcare, social determinants of health, community health, mental and refugee health. He believes in investing in prevention in order to build a healthier community. Mr. Kamba has a proven record in the areas of advocacy, social justice, empowerment, program development and evaluation, multiculturalism, power analysis, social change, strategic planning, and action tactics. He also has a solid grounding in needs/assets assessment, outreach and recruitment, leadership development, action research, and group dynamic. Most recently Eric has worked on several analytical news reports regarding Congo's election and the International Criminal Court in Africa, which were published in the San Francisco Bay View, National Black Newspaper, and Global Research, a publication of the Centre for Research on Globalization at the University of Toronto. Eric hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's French speaking central Kasai Province, and therefore speaks French and many other African languages, including Lingala, the dominant language of Western Congo, and Swahili, the dominant language of Eastern Congo. He's presented at conferences across the United States and has been a guest lecturer in numerous courses at Boston University School of Social Work and Boston University