unit 7 political systems of africa ss7cg2 the student will explain the structures of the modern...

Unit 7Political Systems of Africa

SS7CG2 The student will explain the structures of the modern government of Africa.a. Compare the republican systems of government in the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of South Africa to the dictatorship of the Republic of Sudan, distinguishing the form of leadership and the role of the citizen in terms of voting and personal freedoms 1

The Republic of Kenya

The powers of government are divided into

three groups:

• Executive

• Legislature

• Judiciary

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The Executive

The Executive power is held by

the President who is elected by

direct popular vote for 5 years.

The winning candidate must receive

no less than 25% of the votes

in at least five of Kenya's eight Provinces.

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The Executive

The President of Kenya is the

Head of State, Head of Government

and Commander in Chief of

the armed forces. A person can

serve as President for a maximum

of two terms.

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The Executive

The current President is H. E.

Mr. Emilio Mwai Kibaki who took

over the Presidency on December 30, 2002.

The Vice-President is the President's

Chief Deputy. The president appoints the

Vice-President and Cabinet Ministers from

among Members of the National Assembly.

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The Legislature (Parliament)

Legislative power is in the National

Assembly with 224 Cabinet members

(210 elected, 12 nominated, the Attorney

General, and the House Speaker). The

Speaker is the leader of Parliament

and is chosen by the members

of the National Assembly.

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They serve a 5 year term that

can be extended or dissolved by the

President, or by a 2/3 majority

vote by the National Assembly. The

legislature makes the laws.

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Kenya has a multi-party political system

with over 40 registered political parties.

Currently, the ruling party is the

National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).

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The Judiciary

The Court of Appeal

This is the highest Court in Kenya.

It is presided over by the Judges

of Appeal and only attends to

appeals from the High Court.

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The Judiciary

The High Court of Kenya

This court has unlimited criminal and

civil jurisdiction at first instance, and

sits as a Court of appeal from

subordinate courts in both criminal

and civil cases.

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The Judiciary

Resident Magistrate's Courts

These have countrywide jurisdiction

with powers on punishment by

imprisonment up to five years or by

fine up to KSH500.

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The Judiciary

District Magistrate Courts

These are Courts of First, Second

and Third Class. They have jurisdiction

within the Districts and powers of

punishment by imprisonment for up to

five years or by fines of

up to KSH500.

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The Judiciary

Kadhi's Courts They have jurisdiction within districts, to determine questions of Islamic Law. They are subordinate courts that determinecases relating to personal status, marriage,divorce and inheritance in proceedings inwhich all the parties profess the Muslim religion.

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Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Kenyan Citizens

• Chapter V of the Kenyan Constitution protects the basic rights of every Kenyan citizen. Among the rights and freedoms enumerated in this chapter are:

• Right to life

• Personal liberty

• Freedom from slavery and forced labor

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• Protection from inhuman treatment

• Protection from deprivation of property

• Protection against arbitrary search or entry

• Freedom of conscience

• Freedom of expression

• Freedom of assembly and association

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• Freedom of movement

• Protection from discrimination on any grounds including of race, religion etc.

• Suffrage- vote at 18 years old

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Citizenship

The constitution of Kenya prohibits dual

citizenship. A Kenyan citizen therefore

cannot at the same time be a

citizen of another country. A person can

become a Kenyan citizen by birth or

naturalization.

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Republic of Sudan

Executive

• The president is both the chief of

state and head of government. President

Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR

(since 16 October 1993).

• First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit

(since 4 August 2005)

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Republic of Sudan

Executive

• Second Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed TAHA (since 20 September 2005).

• The cabinet includes the Council of Ministers appointed by the president.

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Republic of Sudan

Executive

Eligibility for becoming president:

Qualified electors• age: 21 years • Sudanese citizenship • literate • Ineligibility: conviction of crime relating to honor

or honesty (in preceding seven years)

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Legislative (Parliament)

National Legislature

Consists of a Council of States

(50 seats; members indirectly elected by

state legislatures to serve six-year terms)

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Legislative (Parliament)

National Assembly

(450 seats; members presently appointed,

but in the future 75% of members

to be directly elected and 25%

elected in special or indirect elections;

to serve six-year terms)

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Judicial

Constitutional Court of nine justices;

National Supreme Court; National Courts

of Appeal; other national courts; National

Judicial Service Commission will undertake

overall management of the National

Judiciary. Legal System based on English

common law and Islamic law.

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Constitution

The constitution was implemented on

30 June 1998, partially suspended

12 December 1999 by President BASHIR.

The Interim National Constitution was

ratified 5 July 2005. The Constitution

of Southern Sudan signed December 2005.

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Constitution

Voter requirements:

• age: 21 years

• Sudanese citizenship

• residence in constituency where voting for at least three months

Disqualifications: insanity

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Government in South Africa

South Africa is a constitutional democracywith a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary. The national,provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own areas with advisory fromtraditional leaders.

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The President and the Cabinet

The President, elected by the National

Assembly from among its members, is the

executive Head of State and leads the

Cabinet. The President may not serve more

than two 5-year terms in office. The

current President is Kgalema Motlanthe;

Executive Deputy Pres. is Baleka Mbete.

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Serious violation of the Constitution is

one of the grounds on which the

President may be removed from office,

also on a two-thirds majority.

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The Cabinet consists of the President,

the Deputy President and 25 Ministers.

The President appoints the Deputy

President and Ministers, assigns their

powers and functions, and may dismiss

them. All but 2 Ministers are selected

from the National Assembly.

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Parliament

The Legislative authority consists of two

houses, the National Assembly and the

National Council of Provinces.

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Parliament

The National AssemblyThe National Assembly consists of 350 - 400 members elected for a 5-yearterm. It is presided over by a Speaker, assisted by a Deputy Speaker.The number of seats awarded to each political party is in based on the outcome of the national election.

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Parliament

The National Council of Provinces

(NCOP) was created to achieve

cooperative governance and participatory

democracy. The NCOP consists of 54

permanent members and 36 special

delegates, and elects its own chairperson.

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The Constitution of South Africa

Human rights and freedoms

Human rights are given clear prominence

in the Constitution. They feature in the

Preamble with its stated intention of

establishing "a society based on

democratic values, social justice and

fundamental human rights".

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Among the rights stipulated are those of:

• equality

• freedom of expression and association

• political and property rights

• housing, healthcare, education

• access to information

• and access to courts.

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• "Everyone has the right to life”

• discrimination of sexual orientation is forbidden

• Non-racialism and non-sexism.

• Supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.

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• universal adult suffrage- vote at 18

• a national common voters’ roll

• regular elections

• a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.

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Languages

The Constitution states that everyone

has the right to use the language

and participate in the cultural life of

his or her choice.

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Languages

The Constitution provides for 11 official

languages:

Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa,

isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana,

siSwati,Tshivenda and Xitsonga.

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Languages

Specific attention is also paid to the

Khoi, Nama and San languages and

to sign language. In addition, there is

mention of "all languages commonly used

by communities in South Africa" and

those used for religious purposes.

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Credits:Embassy of Kenya Wash. D.C.

Library of CongressSudan net

South Africa. info reporter Kenya-information-guide

CIA fact-bookWorld Press. org

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unit 7 political systems of africa ss7cg2 the student will explain the structures of the modern...

Documents

president of kenya

republic of kenya

legislature parliament

high court of kenya

court of appeal

national assembly

judiciary kadhis courts

subordinate courts