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The Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, on Friday evening, 16th January 2026, formally presented and launched the second edition of “Deliberative Democracy: Replacing Liberal Democracy in Post-Colonial African States”, authored by Professor George Munda Carew, a distinguished scholar, public servant, and seasoned intellectual.
Speaking at the event, Minister Bah described the book as a groundbreaking contribution that challenges conventional understandings of democracy in Africa, particularly the overreliance on inherited liberal democratic models.
According to the Minister, democratic governance on the continent must go beyond elections, constitutions, and institutions to truly foster legitimacy and national belonging. He stressed that meaningful democracy should be rooted in Africa’s social realities, histories, cultures, and lived experiences.
“Elections alone do not produce belonging. Constitutions alone do not produce citizenship. And institutions alone do not produce legitimacy,” Minister Bah stated during his remarks.
He noted that Professor Carew’s work strongly aligns with the ongoing civic space reforms being championed by his ministry, aimed at strengthening citizen participation and democratic inclusion across Sierra Leone.
Minister Bah emphasized that deliberative democracy, as advanced in the book, places dialogue, inclusion, cultural dignity, and social cohesion at the heart of governance, describing it as both sound theory and a practical roadmap for building more legitimate, peaceful, and resilient African states.
He further underscored the need for Africa to go beyond political and economic decolonisation to also rethink its intellectual frameworks.
“Africa must decolonise not only its economies and politics, but its ideas,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of embedding democracy in everyday civic life, the Minister added that democracy must be reflected in citizens’ confidence to speak freely, organise, question authority, and see themselves as co-authors of the state.
In a symbolic gesture underscoring the book’s importance, Minister Bah revealed that he purchased copies of the publication for every member of the Cabinet, encouraging policymakers, scholars, students, and citizens interested in Africa’s democratic future to engage with the work.
The launch was held during National Remembrance Day week, a timing Minister Bah described as particularly fitting, as the nation reflects not only on its past but also on the kind of future it seeks to build.
He concluded by noting that Professor Carew’s book offers timely and relevant answers to Africa’s ongoing democratic questions.
