Over the last few decades, African politics has metamorphosed into a zero-sum, winner-take-all game in which the declared winner walks away with virtually everything while the declared loser walks away with virtually nothing. There is no middle road in this electoral fight. With the “glory” of winning elections so radiant and the misery of losing elections so devastating, elections are a matter of life and death. On the one hand, incumbent parties use every tool necessary to perpetually shut the opposition out of power; including the blatant rigging of elections, the capture and weaponisation of state institutions, the enactment and enforcement of draconian legislation, and the vile repression of democratic freedoms. On the other hand, the disgruntled opposition adopts tit-for-tat politics by refusing to recognise the incumbent party, arguing that it is illegitimate. The opposition does everything within its power to disrupt economic activities and undermine the economic performance of the ruling party. This includes mass action, uprisings, boycotting parliament and other state forums, and calling for the imposition of international sanctions.

It gets satisfied with the failures of the incumbent party despite that some of the failures can impose uttermost damage to the economy and cause the death of hundreds of innocent citizens. It rejoices in these failures because it regards them as a statement that the incumbent party is illegitimate and grossly incompetent. It hopes that the failures will turn the voters against the incumbent party. Unhappy with the opposition’s recalcitrant behaviour, the ruling party throws away the rules of civil engagement. The two sides increasingly become a danger to each other because of perceptions of mutual distrust and enmity. Each side sees the other as an existential threat to its vested interests and to the state. In extreme cases, they seek to exterminate each other. A lot of energy, attention, and resources are diverted from development to political fights. The tragedy is that the fight between the two sides degenerates into a vicious cycle whose end game is mutually assured destruction, with the ordinary citizens being the biggest casualties. The political elite from both sides accumulates wealth while the nation falls deeper and deeper into the dungeon of violence, poverty, and inequality. It has become abundantly clear that the only way for Africa to reverse this disastrous trend is through dialogue and depolarisation. The Dialogue or Perish Project seeks to promote systemic dialogue and dialogical political environments in deeply polarised African countries.