Coloniality of Democracy and Algocracy in Africa: Vanhucracy as an Afrocentric Model for Politics

Abstract

Originating from a Greek goddess called Demokratia, democracy constitutes a coup de ‘tat against African spirituality and against Afrocentric politics. Subjected not only to the Greek goddess Demokratia but also to algocracy, corporatocracy, and technocracy, African politics has long ceased to be Afrocentric in the sense of serving the material interests of African people. Drawing on the Shona (a people of Zimbabwe) term vanhu (humans) to coin the word vanhucracy, and drawing on intensive literature review, this paper argues that Western democracy is in fact colonial in the sense of it bypassing African material interests and in its privileging of liberal rights. In this regard, the paper also frames the argument in terms of what it calls the coloniality of democracy which speaks to how Demokratia disrupts Afrocentric politics.