Managing Ethnic Conflict in a Democratizing Africa: Lessons from Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Is democracy and good governance achievable in the multiethnic states of Africa? Can meaningful economic development be attained in the face of the divisive politics that have characterized multiracial and multiethnic states in Africa? Can the competing ethnic claims to resources be harmonized to facilitate a more peaceful coexistence in multiethnic societies? Indeed can democratization in Africa be devoid of the ethnic conflict it has generated throughout the continent? The answer to any of these questions is definitely not negative. Rather the more fundamental question is how these competing ethnic claims to positions and resources can be harmonized to make politics less violent..x000d.This paper examines the process of democratization and democratic transition in the post cold war Africa and the ethnic conflicts that democratization has generated in the continent. Using the recent post election ethnic violence in Kenya and the ongoing political tensions in Zimbabwe, the paper advocates for the establishment of institutions and constitutions that encourage power sharing or coalition governments as a mechanism for reducing ethnic politics that continue to threaten the political stability of democratizing African countries. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]