National Constitutions and Human Rights Issues in Africa

Philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke and Marx, in the European context, and Dubois, Cabral, Fanon, and Ake, in the African political situation investigated and worked on modalities for constructing "the good political life" for human beings in a society with some success in the Occident and limited outcome in Africa. In the latter, the post-colonial period was marked by political competition over the control of the apparatus of power, the problems of human rights and political legitimacy, inter alia. Indeed, provisions were made in the constitution intended to assuage some of these conflictive problems. One such measure was the respect for human rights. The purpose of this essay is to show, concisely, how African governments have not always implemented human rights instruments contained in their constitutions, and to suggest ways that they might, in order to further stability in the area.