Delivering a provocative keynote address at the 11th African Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors (AFIIA) Conference 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, renowned Ugandan journalist and political commentator Andrew Mwenda challenged prevailing narratives around governance in Africa.
Speaking under the theme, “Upscaling Improvement in Addressing African Governance & Geo-Political Challenges,” Mwenda called for a bold rethinking of how governance is defined and pursued across the continent.
Mwenda argued that Africa’s development demands more realism than idealism. “Our institutions,” he said, “reflect who we are, not who we wish to be.”
He cautioned against blindly replicating Western governance models, asserting that effective institutions must evolve from within African societies, rooted in their unique histories, cultures, and political realities.
He stressed that good governance isn’t something you import in a briefcase, but it is built locally, often through messy, trial-and-error processes that reflect the lived experiences of ‘our people’.
Citing Uganda as a case in point, he noted the paradox in which what the West often labels as “bad governance” has, in reality, coexisted with remarkable achievements in state building and economic transformation.
He criticized the tendency of international donors and institutions to prioritize form over function, emphasizing procedural markers like elections, civil society activity, and formal checks and balances, while ignoring whether these institutions genuinely serve public needs.
Mwenda said Western prescriptions frequently misread the terrain, assuming that mimicking procedural democracy will automatically yield development, but this overlooks the social and structural realities on the ground.”
Mwenda urged African leaders and policymakers to shift the debate: governance must be understood not as a moral virtue, but as a practical instrument for delivering development.
He called for contextualized approaches that prioritize what works over what looks good on paper.
