President John Dramani Mahama has urged African countries to rethink how they measure their progress, cautioning against constantly comparing themselves to Western nations at a time when many of those countries are grappling with deep political and social challenges.

He made the remarks on Monday, March 2, 2026, during the opening of the 2026 judicial year of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha.

Speaking to an audience of judges, diplomats, and civil society actors, President Mahama said Africa must take a more self-assured view of its development path.

He observed that nations often described as the “Global North”, long seen as models of democracy and human rights, are now facing serious setbacks in governance and civil liberties.


“If you look beyond Africa, what you’ll find is that the façade of the so-called Global North, a group of countries that have long held themselves up as beacons of democracy and human rights, of liberty, justice, and the rule of law, is fast crumbling,” he said.

The President pointed to worrying trends in some of these countries, including weakening judicial independence, arbitrary detention without due process, executive overreach, and growing restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly, and protest. He noted that such developments have eroded public confidence in state institutions and exposed vulnerabilities in systems once viewed as stable and exemplary.

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To drive home his point, he invoked the words of Tanzania’s founding leader, Julius K Nyerere, “One does not judge one’s state of health by comparing it to a sick person.”

President Mahama stressed that Africa has, for decades, measured its democratic and governance standards against Western models, sometimes at the expense of its own historical and cultural context.

“For far too long, we have compared ourselves to the West and used what we believed were their standards as benchmarks for our endeavours,” he said.

Rather than seeking validation from the outside, he encouraged African nations to define their own benchmarks grounded in their values, realities, and aspirations while still engaging constructively with the global community.

“The reality we see today should serve as a clear call to action. What should be our paradigm in understanding and interacting with the world, even as we preserve our dignity and cultural identity as Africans,” he said.

His remarks added a philosophical tone to the judicial ceremony, challenging African leaders and citizens alike to reflect on the continent’s identity, independence, and confidence in shaping its own future.

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