Civil society and the democratisation processes in Kenya and Uganda: a comparative analysis of the contribution of the Church and NGOs

ABSTRACT

Civil society is comprised of various interest groups through which individuals collectively carry out their social enterprises. The rise to centrality of civil society academic discourse in regard to Africa's development and democratisation processes has been in response to state weakness and authoritarianism. An autonomous civil society is seen as a necessary bulwark against undemocratic state power, whether potential or actual. It is viewed as the cutting edge of the effort to build a viable democratic order on the continent. This article contends that the success of civil society in forcing political concessions in Africa relates to the availability of opportunity to mobilise, agitate and bargain with the state from a position of strength in the struggle for the opening up of public spaces. However, the notion that a generic civil society is uniformly progressive in challenging the African authoritarian state and advancing democratisation may not be accurate. Civil society conceptions require a deep understanding of civil societies in their own terms. There are limits to what civic pressure can achieve in the absence of concurrent reform of the state itself This comparative study attempts to bring out the underlying similarities and differences in the contribution of the Christian church and NGOs as civil society organisations to the democratisation processes in Kenya and Uganda.