TMALI

GOCA FRT
APRM MINI REPORT
Maxwell David Kariuki Wanjiru 77886860 9/6/2013

This paper will review Eritreas Democratic and Good governance status according to NEPADs Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.

Introduction The purpose of this report is to review the state of Eritrea's Democratic and good governance, which has not yet acceded to the APRM. And gauge its standing on the domains of good governance as stipulated by the NEPAD's Declaration on Democracy, political, economic and corporate governance. The state of Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan (west), Djibouti (South East) and Ethiopia (South). Eritrea gained its independence in 1991after years of struggle with Ethiopia. The single party regime of President Isaiah Afewerki has since tightened political space, tolerating neither opposition nor dissent. Relations are difficult with the region and the wider international community. It has become a siege state, whose government is suspicious of its own population, neighbours and the wider world. Eritrea can be described as a poor country, economically crippled and a reflexion of a rough political environment.1 Eritrea's sour intra African relations are notable especially with Ethiopia. Tensions still remains between the two countries. Sudan and Somalia accuses Eritrea of supporting rebels and Al shabaab fighters, an affiliate of Al Qaeda.2 Leadership Ethics The great man theory and Neo patrimonialism, where a leader maintains authority through personal patronage rather than laws or ideology has affected Eritrea's growth and progress, and capabilities of nation building. Lack of honest, and transparent, government and denial of people's right to criticize and censor power has continuously undermined its good governance capacity. Democracy and Political governance. The NEPAD's Declaration on Democracy, political, economic and corporate governance states; "we affirm our commitment to the promotion of democracy and its core values in our respective countries"3

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http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/...Eritrea The Siege State. Breaking into Eritrea: market research on Africa's North 3 The NEPAD's Declaration on Democracy, political, economic and corporate governance

Democracy Index ranked Eritrea 154 out of 167 countries, labelling it as authoritarian and one of the worst political regimes.4 The country lacks an electoral system, nor a constitution which defines Eritrean rights. Furthermore, the Declaration on Democracy states the commitment of member states to enforce, the rule of law, equality of citizens before the law, and the liberty of the individual. Individuals collective freedoms including the right to form and join political parties and trade unions.5 None of these values exist in Eritrea. There is no liberty of persons, and people aren't free to form and join other political parties. The country is a one party state and no elections have been held since 1991 thus denying Eritrean their inalienable right to participate by means of free, credible and democratic political processes in electing their leaders for a fixed term of office, as defined by Nepad's declaration on Democracy. According to Human Rights Watch,6 Eritrean Government remains among the worst human rights violators in the world. Characterised by torture, arbitrary detentions and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association and religious freedom. This is contrary to Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights,7 which states; Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present charter, without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion. People who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained without trial are subjected to torture during interrogations. Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights stipulates that every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being. Torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited. 8 Economic governance and management. United Nations Convention against Corruption defines corruption as an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. Undermines democracy and the rule of

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Eritrea: A democratic disgrace or an economic exemplar, Daniela Kirkby The NEPAD's Declaration on Democracy, political, economic and corporate governance 6 Human Rights Watch 7 the African Charter on Human and People's Rights 8 Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights

law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish.9 Article 5, of the UN Convention against corruption states; Each state party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability. Yemane Desta, in a paper titled "Designing Anti-Corruption Strategies for Developing Countries: A country Study of Eritrea"10 discusses four anti-corruption strategies that Eritrea can adopt to combat and prevent corruption. Mainly; Market & Economic reforms, administrative/bureaucratic reforms, accountability/transparency and Democratic accountability. Economic and Market reforms, he argues, will involve economic liberalization, designed to promote a vibrant private sector. Administrative / Bureaucratic reforms will encompass civil service reforms designed to enhance the performance of the government bureaucracy. This will include heavy penalties on corrupt officials. Accountability / Transparency reforms will include measures designed to open up the work of the government to public scrutiny as a way of holding public officials answerable for their actions. Democratic Accountability reforms, will include; political competition, transparency in party financing, oversight by NGOs and disclosure of election results. Corporate Governance The investment atmosphere in Eritrea is not conducive to foreign investment this is due to the governments control of most key companies. According to Eritrea Economy profile 2013,

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United Nations Convention against Corruption Designing Anti-Corruption Strategies for Developing Countries: A country Study of Eritrea

Eritrea is said to have a command economy under the control of the sole political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). 11 Social Economic development. According to UNDP, two thirds of Eritreas population are poor. More than one third of them are extremely poor living below the poverty line. (www.er.undp.org/poverty/) Eritrea is listed as the Worlds poorest countries, the war and the drought has forced millions of people to migrate to neighbouring countries and Europe and America. 12 Nepads Declaration on socio -Economic development, endeavours to tackle poverty by promoting, democracy, good governance, peace and security, the development of human and physical resources, gender equality, openness to international trade and investment and new partnerships between governments and the private sector, and with civil society.13 Lack of democratic and good governance has contributed to Eritrea's poverty levels. Under a repressive system that is suspicious of its own people and forces thousands of its young people to sign up for indefinite military conscription has affected particularly the nations youthful work force, and hasn't allowed time, and space for the development of human resource. Conclusion In line with NEPAD's Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and corporate governance it is clear that Eritrea is falling far behind the standards set. This survey found that in areas of Democracy and political governance, Eritrea has a long way to go. The current regime that has held power since independence must be open to scrutiny and accountability. The Declaration on Democracy believes in just, transparent, accountable and participatory government and probity in public life. On Economic governance for the country to make positive gains from a badly ailing economy, it must commit to follow the clear set of anti-corruption policies. This includes economic liberalization to promote a vibrant private sector. On human rights, the Declaration states that vibrant civil society organizations must exist. Recent years have seen a clamping down on NGO's by Eritrea and withdrawing tax exemptions and increasing registration requirements. (www.hoa-politicalscene.com/eritrea-).
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www.indexmundi.com > Home > Factbook > Countries > Eritrea www.nationsencyclopedia.com > Encyclopedia of the Nations > Africa > Eritrea 13 Nepads Declaration on socio -Economic development

It should not therefore come as a surprise that Eritrea has not acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism a voluntary accession aimed at self-monitoring. Given the tension between intra relations with her neighbours this survey concludes that Eritrea is not ready as yet to be reviewed in line with Nepad's declaration on Democracy, ....because the regime quite understands well, it hasn't lived and conducted the business of governance within the required standards and democratic values. This report refrains from harsh criticism of Eritrea's failure to accede to the APRM because so far, APRM must be understood as a purely voluntary initiative by member states. There accession or no accession remains a matter of personal preference.