By Caroline Wahome If tomorrow I decided to leave my pen at home and go about shouting and heckling (in bid to protest

against the governments corruption and political wrangles) - and get arrested for it - what would you call me: A) Brave B) Foolish C) Reformist D)Lunatic asked one journalist on his Facebook profile page. All sorts of responses came through but it was one comment talking of Dambudzo Marechera that got me interested. Marechera is a Zimbabwean author and journalist who until his death in 1987 lived the life of a lunatic. In his second year of University he was expelled as a result of his involvement with a student protest against racial discrimination on campus. He had also conducted a solo protest march against the government of Ian Smith. He then fled to Botswana, and finally to England where he gained political asylum. Luckily he got scholarship to study at New College in Oxford but soon after he was back at it; he tried to burn the college in protest to the indifference he had with his tutors after he discovered education was not much respected in that college. He was given the option of getting psychiatric treatment or face expulsion and he chose to withdraw from school becoming a petty thief and leaving in poverty. After eight years in exile he returned to Zimbabwe, continued criticizing the government, then Mugabe had taken over leadership, but this time round he did not burn buildings or go on solo protested, he penned his thoughts in his third book, Mindblast, the last of his work that was published when he was still alive.

For me, anyone who takes to the street to demonstrate for the better of a country is not only exercising his or her democratic right but also a hero/reformist. But it this topic-Democracy- that got my friend and I into a debate.

His argument is that Africa wants to put itself into the democratic state as those of the US and Europe. True, this of course is a big problem. For starters, most African countries are fledging democracies. Can we for example call Zimbabwe a democratic country regardless of them having democratic elections? Secondly, the economic state of majority of African states, actually all expect South Africa are in shambles.

Scholars have defined democracy in many ways but what is common in all their definitions is that, citizens being able to keep their governments in check is one main component of a democratic society. Something that many African governments have humbled themselves to. They have come to accept that no leader is indispensable and mass action is possible any day any time. So would it be correct to say Africa is going through a third or fourth wave of democracy? This being the state where citizens are challenging their new found democratic leaders because they are dissatisfied with their leadership? Goran Hyden and Charles Okigbo in their book Media and Democracy explain the waves of democracy in Africa using Samuel Huntington (Huntington is an American political scientist who is accredited to defining the term waves of democracy) interpretation and say that a wave is a group of transitions from one type of regime to another that occur within a specified period of time.

The first wave in Africa was experienced when colonialist left and locals took over leadership. The second wave, which led to democratisation of many countries, is what was experienced in the later in the 1980s and through the 1990s. It was the time when people got tired of authoritarian ruling from the local leaders who had taken over leadership. Then multi-party politics came to being and democratic elections were observed in various African countries.

But my Rwandese friend is disturbed and angered as well. Why? Barely within two months in office Jacob Zuma has already been threatened by his people if he does not deliver his promises and in their words, we will make this country ungovernable he was told. The citizens even went into details saying that they will see to it that the Confederation cup will not take place. As you may be aware, the Confederation cup is set to take place in South Africa from June 14 to the 28.

He does not stop there. Not so long ago taxi drivers went on a strike and their reason, they were opposed to the new faster and convenient public transport that the government is introducing. Well, if this is not stupidity I dont know what better word to call it. Case and scenario, South Africa is a very developed country that one would expect that trains, metro buses are available anywhere and until a reasonable time of the night. But no, its a 14 sitter van that is the daily means of transport for the ordinary citizen whose income cannot sustain a car in the good South African roads. His issue, is this what we are calling democracy? Taking to the streets because some competition is coming your way?

He takes me back home and asks if Mungiki slaughtering innocent people is also a form of a democratic right? Of course not, I respond. He actually like many Kenyan citizens does not understand why and how the government cannot handle the situation. He tells me it seems we need their president, Paul Kagame, to advise us on how to run our government in all issues. In Rwanda he says Kagame has told them over time and again, if you want to disturb the peace in the country, pack your things and go do it elsewhere, not in Rwanda. So the nonsense of uprooting a railway in protest over an island which I can bet millions of Kenyans did not know existed only until recently is something that would be unheard of in Rwanda. Maybe its because Kagame has already experienced what it is like to be in and will not take it kindly in anyone threatening security of his country.

So democracy it is. We are all to blame for its success or fail.