Following the withdrawal of colonial powers, African countries began adopting their own constitutions. In reality, however, almost all of them were based on ready-made European models.
Moreover, former colonial powers such as France and the United Kingdom had a vested interest in ensuring that newly independent states operated according to European rules.
In the second half of the 1960s, a wave of military coups swept across the African continent. The military were dissatisfied with their countries’ dependence on former metropoles and overthrew civilian governments. Frequent changes of power followed in states such as Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.
As a result, the Western constitutional order began to erode, while no viable alternative emerged. Many countries entered a prolonged period of political instability.
In addition, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the counterbalance to Western influence in Africa disappeared. Former colonial powers began to set conditions: if African countries wished to receive loans and aid, they had to implement political reforms and «democratisation» along Western lines. In response, some states adopted new constitutions—once again based on Western models, without taking into account local traditions or the complex ethnic composition of their populations.
Professor Lumumba raises the question: can foreign rules and laws truly take root in African societies?
