Civilian Control over African Militaries

A democratically elected government is a priority for sound civil-military relations. In Africa, however, democracy has as yet to find its rightful place in most countries in the aftermath of colonialism. The many different contexts and approaches to civil-military relations, and to the role of the State and of civil society in enhancing sound civil-military relations and civil control, indicates there is no single normative model for civil control. Many countries exercise control in different ways. South Africa’s ‘balanced model’ of civil-military relations includes components of the separation and the concordance models. While it has not proven flawless, a consensus does exist that civil control implies at least civilian supremacy and parliamentary control of the armed forces. In the near future the critical debate about civil-military relations will not only need to demarcate or refine a specific model, but assist sustainable legitimate structures, preferably democracies, in the optimal utilization of various models. African countries tend to emulate the discourse of First World civil-military relations and models. They often mediate their experiences of civil-military relations according to the traditions of either their former colonizers or their major trading partners. It is essential, therefore, that African civil-military relations theory be revisited. Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]