Citizen Engament: A game changer for Africa

Our earth has human beings, animals, birds, insects, plants and other creatures. Out of these creatures, the human beings are rational and can control the others. Our various countries have both human and natural resources. In each country, attempts are made to improve the welfare or quality of life of the citizens. This idea is generally referred to as development. Many people think of economic development whenever the term ‘development’ is mentioned. Economic development has been defined as “improvement of the way endowments and goods and services are used within (or by) the system to generate new goods and services in order to provide additional consumption and/or investment possibilities to the members of the system.” -Lorenzo G. Bellù, an Economist. However, economic growth refers to a quantitative change or expansion in a country’s economy usually over a period of one year, measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross National Product (GNP). In fact, development means more than economic development and economic growth. “Development is a multi-dimensional process involving changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty” – (Toledo and Smith). Modern understanding lays emphasis on human development. Some countries are far ahead of others in development. This gives rise to countries being classified into developed and developing countries. In each country, there is this suspicious gap concerning governance between the government (politicians) and the governed (citizens). Governments (central and local) are expected to make policies which will be in the interest of the citizens and improve their welfare. But this does not usually happen as the citizens suspect the politicians of seeking their own interests. There is a new concept ‘Citizen Engagement, (CE) which proposes that it can be a game changer for development. This means that the representatives in government should be democratically elected and their decisions should reflect the views of the majority of the people they should be held accountable for all that they do. In the developed countries, their institutions work quite efficiently so CE works better than in the developing countries in Africa, parts of Asia and South America. In the developing countries in Africa and Asia and South America, mechanisms of engagement may find expression in the form of voting, community monitoring, social audits and participatory budgeting involving a dialogue between the government and citizens. This article is expected to show how CE can be used to bring about development to African countries in the building physical infrastructure. A look at many African countries shows that political parties ‘fight’ for power through the ballot box and make promises to the citizens through their manifestoes. Some of the parties rise to power through elections that may not be true and fair. The focus of this article is that governments can engage citizens for ideas and monitoring to bring about infrastructural development in the form of schools, hospitals, police stations, roads, bridges et cetera at reasonable costs. The fact is that citizens (literate or illiterate) in both the rural and urban centers know their needs whether water, health centers or schools. There is no need to impose certain projects on them just because those projects are in a party’s manifesto. The citizens who are the beneficiaries and stake-holders should be the key players. They should be involved in the bill of quantities and monitoring so that there will be value for money and costs are not inflated for political patronage. Committees can be formed for the jobs. These committees should cut across political, social and cultural groups. The engagement on a mixture of large and small scale i.e. thin and thick engagement. There may challenges about politicians trying to hide things from the opposition. But these can be overcome if the practice is to keep this open and honest. This can provide opportunities for all especially jobs. This project could be assessed by conducting surveys in the form of Questionnaire and voice interviews of a representative sample to be played over FM radio stations and other forms of ICT like mobile phones, internet and social media.