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Misanet.com / The Namibian, 19 April - Only 58 per cent of Namibians prefer democracy to other forms of governance, according to a new report. This was one of findings of the Afrobarometer survey released this week. Of the 12 countries surveyed, Namibia was second to last on the question of preferring democracy over other systems. Lesotho scored the lowest with 40 per cent. On top was Botswana, where 85 per cent of people surveyed said they prefer democracy above all else. The survey said most Namibians are satisfied with the way democracy works in the country but only one in every three people (30 per cent) surveyed felt Namibia was completely democratic. The survey, released by African researchers in Cape Town on Monday, indicated that 67 per cent of Namibians interviewed understand democracy. The comparative study on public attitudes to government in 12 African countries found that two out of every five Namibians indicated that the democracy had "minor problems". The Afrobarometer project polled between 1,200 and 2,400 people in each of the 12 countries that have implemented some measure of political and economic reform, to test their perceptions of government and their concerns and expectations. For 40 per cent of the Africans surveyed, democracy means freedom of speech while 15 per cent see democracy as "government by the people." The study found that dictators and military rulers have been roundly rejected in all countries. It said Africans expect democracy to deliver basic necessities such as food, education, water and shelter. "Thus, Africans are predisposed to judge the performance of democracy primarily in terms of its record at delivering improvements in the socio-economic sphere," the report said. The most prominent economic problem facing people from the 12 countries is unemployment. Some 42 per cent of Namibia's population felt satisfied with the country's economic performance. The report said "more people [in the 12 countries] think that their living standards have worsened over the previous year than perceive improvements". The only exception was Uganda where the majority (62 per cent) was satisfied with overall economic conditions. Namibians, together with people in Lesotho and Botswana, perceive corruption as low while Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe scored the highest. The surveys were conducted in Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. By
Christof Maletsky, The Namibian
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