Are colonial-era laws holding Africa back?
In the late 1800s, European powers enforced laws to maintain control, extract wealth, and suppress dissent in African colonies. However, despite independence, African legal systems largely retained colonial structures and laws.
Some African countries still adhere to colonial-era laws, including the criminalisation of homosexuality, despite reforms in former colonial powers like Britain, France, and Portugal, potentially hindering Africa's economic progress.
Anti-LGBTQ law
British colonial laws in the late 19th century criminalised homosexuality across African territories, impacting 13 former British colonies. Uganda, Gambia, and Nigeria still have anti-LGBTQ laws.
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, following its implementation, reportedly led to arrests, human rights violations, and industry disruptions. International organisations like the World Bank suspended projects and aid in protest. Subsequently, the East African nation was removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an initiative that allows qualifying African states tariff-free access to U.S. markets.
Media Freedom
Colonial-era restrictions on media freedom persist in many African countries, inhibiting the free flow of information and stifling dissent. Statutory provisions criminalising the publication of "untrue" statements or reports, inherited from colonial rulers, continue to be enforced, hindering journalists' ability to report critically.
However, experts find these provisions to be problematic since journalists and media houses can't get every story entirely right and factually correct all of the time.
Examples include the 2018 arrest of journalist Sylvanie Kiaku in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was prosecuted under a defamation law dating back to 1940, established during Belgium's colonial rule over the region and the 2016 arrest of five radio journalists in Zambia for allegedly criticising a member of the ruling party. They were charged under Section 179 of the Zambian penal code, a colonial-era law that predates Zambia's independence.
These examples highlight how colonial-era laws continue to suppress freedom of expression and impede the development of independent media in some African countries.
Vagrancy Law
Colonial vagrancy laws in Africa continue to criminalise poverty, and homelessness and marginalise vulnerable populations. Originating from European colonisers through the UK’s Vagrancy Act of 1824.
At least 22 African countries, including former colonies of Belgium, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal, retain domestic laws criminalising vagrancy. These laws grant excessive detention powers to law enforcement and target street vendors, beggars, and sex workers.
Experts argue that these laws punish individuals for their socioeconomic status rather than any criminal offence they may have committed. For example, Nigeria's Lagos State Criminal Law, 2011, criminalises vagrancy as being "idle and disorderly."
Advocates argue that vagrancy laws criminalise homelessness and discriminate against those with mental health challenges.
Despite legal reforms in some African nations, such as Rwanda transitioning from a colonial Belgian civil law system to a common law system, the legacy of colonial-era laws continues to pose challenges to development and human rights across the continent.
