African
Citizens
Watch
An independent platform that tracks the performance and effectiveness of African governments based on the pledges made in the manifesto and other important policy pronouncements.
Malawi
Zambia
Zimbabwe
ZambiaZimbabwe
Welcome
to africancitizenswatch.org
One of the important tenets of democracy is the effectiveness of the state. It is against this backdrop that we have developed africancitizenswatch.org. This is a platform seeking to enhance the quality of democracy in different countries across Africa and contribute towards improved state delivery. This online tracking tool provides real-time information about the policy performance of government. Through this process, non-state actors have evidence that can help enhance their participation in public policy processes and provide citizens with meaningful opportunities to identify their needs, and priorities and give feedback on government performance. This is a precondition for inclusive societies.
Through the tracker we seek to highlight the following about democracy:
- Free and fair elections are a necessary but not sufficient condition for democracy
- Active citizens are essential and play a critical part in nurturing democracy
- The work of democracy is the work of citizens
- Officeholders serve at the pleasure of citizens
The hope in the short term is that the information collected and analysed through the trackers will achieve the following:
- Enhance government accountability in terms of delivering on its own promises
- Nurture processes and platforms of learning/hearing from citizens on their expectations
- Shifting political narratives and discourses beyond personalities to policy issues
- Encouraged increased participation and engagement of citizens in public policy processes
Methodology
How Do We Track
The promises that we are tracking are derived from the commitments that winning political parties made in their manifestos. We evaluate each promise using the scale below:
ImplementedImplemented
These are promises that have been acted on and fully completed.
In ProgressIn Progress
Actions that the government has commenced and is in the process of achieving.
Not CommencedNot Commenced
These are promises that might remain not started and if they remain that way by end of the tracking cycle they will be classified as Unaccomplished.
ModifiedModified
These are commitments that will be changed/modified due to some changed circumstances. We will do an analysis to determine how these undertakings compare to what was stated in the ruling party’s manifesto.
BrokenBroken
These are promises that the government would have not made any action towards achieving or those rendered unachievable owning to contradictory policy positions.
We will continue tracking the implementation of the promises until the final day in office of the elected government. However, beyond just tracking we will also measuring if the actions adopted have contributed to positive change and where possible identify the limitations.
This platform was made possible by the generous assistance of our following partners:
2024, SIVIO Institute