Separation of powers in African constitutionalism

444 Pages·2016·2.01 MB·English

by  Fombad

STELLENBOSCH HANDBOOKS IN AFRICAN
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
BOOK ONE

Separation of Powers
in African
Constitutionalism
Editedby
CHARLES M. FOMBAD
1
3
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Stellenbosch Handbooks in African
Constitutional Law
The Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional Law is a series of books that
engagewithcontemporaryissuesofconstitutionalisminAfricainauniqueandhighly
originalmanner.Thefirstexperimentindemocraticandconstitutionalgovernancein
Africa that started after independence was soon overtaken by dictatorships, and
arbitrary and repressive rule. The pulling down of the Berlin Wall followed by the
collapse of the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe unleashed a fresh wind of
democratization and new hopes for the establishment and entrenchment of constitu-
tional governance and constitutionalism in Africa. This series is designed to avoid a
mere repetition of the now well-rehearsed concerns and doubts about constitutional-
ism onthecontinentandinstead toidentify,analyse,andpromoteseriousdiscussion
onthecriticalissuesthatcanshape,refine,anddeepenthestridesbeingtakentowards
consolidatingconstitutionalisminAfrica.
Althoughcomparativeconstitutional lawhas now emerged stronglyin thelast two
decades as a major field of legal scholarship, most of the extensive research and
publications that have been carried out have focused mainly on the well-established
democracies. The only African country that has occasionally attracted some research
interest from a comparative law perspective is South Africa. The few books that do
present some perspectives on African comparative constitutional law focus narrowly
andexclusivelyondevelopmentsineitherAnglophone,Francophone,orArabophone
Africa but with nothing cutting across these divides. Yet, since 1990, Africa has been
undergoing profound and far-reaching constitutional developments that deserve to
attract the attention of comparatists. Very limited comparative law research has been
carried out to understand the nature of these constitutional changes, review their
impact on the attempts to entrench an ethos of constitutionalism on the continent,
andassesstheprospectsforthefuture.
The overriding objective of the Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional
Law series is as follows. First, the series will stimulate interest in comparative consti-
tutionallawresearchandstudiesonthedifferentconstitutionaltraditionsoperatingin
Africa by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the latest thinking, research, and
practice. In this way, the series intends to fill the huge knowledge gap in the existing
literature on comparative African constitutional law as well as point to directions for
futureresearch.Second,eachvolumewillforthefirsttime,bringtogetherhighquality
innovativeandoriginalmaterialfromdiverseperspectiveswrittenbyscholarsandlegal
practitioners drawn from the different constitutional traditions operating on the
continent. In this respect, each volume will strive to cover Anglophone, Arabophone,
Francophone,Hispanophone,andLusophoneAfrica.Inmanyrespects,thiswillensure
thattheAfricanvoiceisheardintheglobalconstitutionaldebate.Third,becausemost
Africancountriessharemanycommonfeatures,suchasthecoloniallegacy,geograph-
icalproximity,andsocial,economic,political,andculturalconditions,thebooksinthe
vi StellenboschHandbooksinAfricanConstitutionalLaw
series adopt a comparative approach that highlight gaps and good practices in a
manner that willprovide a rich source of authoritative informationfor promotingan
intra-African legal dialogue and the cross-fertilization of ideas across the different
constitutional traditions. Finally, the books in the series are intended to act as a
repository for the accumulation of knowledge, experience, and expertise on the con-
tinent.Eachhandbookstandsaloneandisintendedtoprovideaninvaluablesourceof
authoritative reference material for academics, researchers, students at all levels, legal
practitioners,andpolicymakers.
StellenboschHandbooksinAfricanConstitutionalLaw
SeriesEditor
ProfessorCharlesMangaFombad,InstituteforInternationalandComparative
LawinAfrica(ICLA),FacultyofLaw,UniversityofPretoria
SeriesAdvisoryBoard
DrJamesFowkes
SeniorResearcher,InstituteforInternationalandComparativeLawinAfrica(ICLA),
FacultyofLaw,UniversityofPretoria
ProfessorAmezeGuobadia
ResearchProfessor,NigerianInstituteforAdvancedLegalStudies
DrMichaelaHailbronner
SeniorResearcher,InstituteforInternationalandComparativeLawinAfrica(ICLA),
FacultyofLaw,UniversityofPretoria
ProfessorChristofHeyns
Co-Director,InstituteforInternationalandComparativeLawinAfricaandUNSpecial
Rapporteuronextrajudicial,summary,orarbitraryexecutions
ProfessorThéodoreHolo
President,ConstitutionalCourtofBenin
ProfessorBabacarKante
FormerVicePresidentoftheSenegaleseConstitutionalCouncilandProfessoroflaw,
UniversityofGastonBergerdeSaint-Louis,Senegal
ProfessorChristinaMurray
ProfessorofLaw,UniversityofCapeTown
ProfessorMunaNdulo
DirectoroftheInstituteforAfricanDevelopment,CornellUniversity
ProfessorKofiQuashigah
Dean,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofGhana,Legon
ProfessorAndréThomashausen
FormerChairoftheDepartmentofPublic,ConstitutionalandInternationalLaw,College
ofLaw,UniversityofSouthAfrica,Pretoria,SouthAfrica
ProfessorFrancoisVenter
FormerDeanandResearchProfessor,North-WestUniversity,PotchefstroomCampus
JusticeZakYacoob
RetiredJusticeoftheConstitutionalCourtofSouthAfrica
Preface
The books published in the series Stellenbosch Handbooks in African Constitutional
LawhaveemergedfromasetofseminarsknownastheStellenboschAnnualSeminar
on Constitutionalism in Africa (SASCA) organized by the Stellenbosch Institute for
Advanced Study (STIAS) and the Institute forInternational and Comparative Law in
Africa(ICLA)oftheUniversityofPretoria.Thefirstoftheseseminarstookplaceatthe
Wallenberg ResearchCentre ofSTIASin Stellenboschfrom 4–6September 2013.For
this first seminar, a carefully selected group of outstanding African and some non-
African constitutional law scholarsand practitioners were invited. During the discus-
sions, plans were made for future seminars and the need to publish the papers
presented was agreed upon. By the time the second seminar took place, from 17–19
September2014,contacthadalreadybeenmadewithfoureminentpublishersinclud-
ingOxfordUniversityPress(OUP),todiscussthepossibilityoftheirpublishingthese
papersinanewseriesdevotedtoAfrica.Allfouracceptedbuttheparticipantsdecided
topublishthepaperswithOUP.
WethankOUP,foragreeingtolaunchthisseries,andforthesupportandassistance
they have provided. Special thanks go to Mr Alex Flach at OUP who took an early
interest in the project and has provided invaluable ongoing support. This idea would
never have beenbrought tofruition withoutthefinancialsupport providedbySTIAS
and ICLA. We want to particularly thank the present Director of STIAS, Professor
Hendrik Geyer, his predecessor and founding Director of STIAS, Professor Bernard
Lategan,aswellasthetwoCo-DirectorsofICLA,ProfessorsChristofHeynsandErika
de Wet, who have at all times been the solid rock on which this project is moving
forward. Finally, thanks are also due to all the scholars who have contributed to the
project, especially those who took part in the SASCA 2013 seminar and those whose
excellentcontributionstothe2014eventarefeaturedinthismaidenvolume.Wehope
thatsubsequentvolumeswillbuildonthisfoundation,includingandreflectingallthe
diverse constitutional traditions on the continent and contributing to constitutional
discussionwithinAfrica,andwiththeworld.

Contents
GeneralIntroductiontotheStellenboschHandbooksinAfrican
ConstitutionalLawSeries v
Preface vii
TableofCases xi
TableofLegislation xvii
ListofAbbreviations xxv
ListofContributors xxvii
Introduction 1
JamesFowkesandCharlesM.Fombad
PART I: OVERVIEW
1. TheEvolutionofModernAfricanConstitutions:
ARetrospectivePerspective 13
CharlesM.Fombad
2. AnOverviewofSeparationofPowersunderModern
AfricanConstitutions 58
CharlesM.Fombad
PART II: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
LEGISLATURE AND THE EXECUTIVE
3. ParliamentarySovereigntyorPresidentialImperialism?TheDifficulties
inIdentifyingtheSourceofConstitutionalPowerfromtheInteraction
BetweenLegislaturesandExecutivesinAnglophoneAfrica 95
FrancoisVenter
4. Kenya’sBuddingBicameralismandLegislative–ExecutiveRelations 116
ConradM.Bosire
5. Legislative–ExecutiveRelationsinPresidentialDemocracies:
TheCaseofNigeria 135
SylvesterShikyil
PART III: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
JUDICIARY AND THE POLITICAL BRANCHES
6. AnOverviewofJudicialandExecutiveRelationsinLusophoneAfrica 159
FernandoLoureiroBastos
7. Super-presidentialisminAngolaandtheAngolanJudiciary 182
AndréThomashausen