“Secular Africa?” Making Sense of Noncompliance to Secular Constitutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Aside from the work of Africanists, it is not widely understood that a “secular Africa” exists, or, more precisely, a sub-Saharan Africa of twenty-seven constitutionally secular states. Although an immense theoretical body of literature is devoted to “secular studies,” little of it takes these twenty-seven cases into consideration. In order to build a bridge between the findings of Africanists and students of political secularism, we advance a twelve-point typology of the constitutionally secular state. From there, we call attention to a discrepancy between the secular precepts found in African constitutions and the actual secularity practiced by governments and citizens. Using research on state fragility, postcolonial theory, and constitutionalism, we offer a few possible explanations for the “compliance gap” present in many African secular states. Finally, we reexamine fundamental disagreements among scholars regarding the value of secularism itself. Many are highly critical of the secular project, whereas more classically liberal observers stress secularism’s ability to manage pluralism, and hence its suitability to an Africa growing more religiously diverse. Twenty-seven of Africa’s fifty-four nations possess constitutions whose edicts regarding proper relations between government and religion(s) may be described as “secular.” Scholars of Africa notwithstanding, this fact is not widely known. Western journalists and policy analysts rarely dilate upon this issue, nor does one hear the phrase “secular Africa” often invoked in discussions of continental affairs. Even scholars who study political secularism as a normative concept seldom show any awareness of Africa’s empirical relevance to their subject matter.1 These researchers have devoted little scrutiny to constitutionally secular African nations. Similarly, they have not spent much time pondering the broader implications of what we consider an important geopolitical data point: half of the countries in the world’s most youthful, religious, and soon-to-be populous continent are, in theory, wed to formally secular structures of governance.2 As Jon Abbink notes, there is an “unrelenting growth in the public presence of religion in Africa.”3 As this growth continues, scholars will need to develop increasingly sophisticated ways of conceptualizing the future of “secular Africa.” Our first goal is to develop a typology of a constitutionally secular African state. From there, we will ponder a conundrum often observed by Africanists: many governments (and citizens) of putatively secular states appear not to comply with their own secular precepts. Such considerations have led researchers to wonder if African secularisms are but “a legal fiction or a necessary myth in the nation-building project.”4 This rift between constitutional writ and reality is referred to by political scientists and legal scholars as “non-compliance,” or a “compliance gap.”5 Drawing on a body of scholarly literature pertaining to postcolonial nation-building, state fragility, and constitutionalism, we will offer various explanations as to why this gap exists. In doing so, we hope to build a bridge between the aforementioned normative studies of secularism and the research of Africanists. The term “secularism” is notoriously multivalent and has been so since it was first coined by the British freethinker George Jacob Holyoake in 1851.6 Jean Bauberot notes the “double emploi” of a concept that is defined differently in colloquial and academic usage.7 The philosopher Charles Taylor speaks of the “baggage of ambiguity” that one lifts when deploying the word.8 Today, a variety of distinct understandings of secularism seem to proliferate. The term might refer to (1) atheism, (2) separation of church and state, (3) a system of this-worldly ethics, (4) the process of secularization, or, (5) Taylor’s own widely discussed notion of “secularity,” which itself possesses three variants, among other usages.9 Theorists who work within postcolonial frameworks (whose ideas we shall encounter below) have sometimes argued that the word is simply undefinable.10 Interestingly, while the meaning of “secularism” has generated intense academic debate, far less energy has been spent defining the “secular state”––an imbricated but distinct concept. For purposes of the forthcoming analysis, we shall propose the following typology of a constitutionally secular state. Our typology contains twelve features. In figure 1, (“The Constitutional Secularism and Non-Secularism Index in Africa”), a score of 13 would represent the most constitutionally secular nation. The reader is reminded that our metric is solely based on the words of a given constitution. The constitutional secularism and nonsecularism index in Africa. The indexes in figures 1, 2, and 4 were calculated by summing how many of the twelve attributes of secularism each constitution explicitly mentions. Our coding methodology “privileges” secular and separationist provisions by awarding a state 0.5 additional points if its constitution fulfills one of these principles. As such, a state that mentions both secularism and separationism would receive one extra point. The index surveys the most recent implemented and suspended constitutions (including amendments) of all fifty-four UN member states in Africa. The coding methodology awards points only if a constitution explicitly mentions one of the twelve attributes. There are two exceptions to this rule. First, because separationism is one possible variation of secularism (i.e., a separationist state is almost without fail secular), constitutions that directly mention church-state separation are automatically awarded the secularism point. In addition, constitutions qualify for the “state supremacy” attribute if they do not stipulate an official religion. Constitutions are only awarded a point in this category if their education clause: (1) directly acknowledges that public education is not religious, and/or (2) prohibits mandatory religious instruction and ceremony without the consent of the pupil. As such, the education clauses of states like Senegal and Eswatini were not awarded any points because their contents were confined to guaranteeing the right of religious organizations to establish educational institutions. The DRC’s education clause was only awarded half a point, as it demonstrated a willingness to make national education conform to religious scruples (without suggesting a completely secular national alternative). Zambia’s education clause, despite checking the boxes stipulated above, also received half a point because its constitution identifies Christianity as an official religion. An African state will be referred to as “constitutionally secular” when its constitution explicitly refers to the nation as (1) “secular,” and/or (2) committed to the principle of “separation of church and state.” For example, the Central African Republic’s constitution, which scores 10 out of 13 in our constitutionally secular and non-secular index (CSNSI), stipulates: “The Central African Republic is a State of law, unitary, sovereign, indivisible, secular and democratic. It recognizes and protects the traditional values in accordance with the law and the Customary Authorities.”11 As for separation, a typical formulation may read: “The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe [CSNSI = 9/13] is a lay State, within it existing a separation of the State with respect to all religious institutions.”12 In our typology, the words “secular” or “separation” must be present for us to consider a state secular (this accounts for the exclusion of Nigeria and Ghana whose CSNSI is a relatively high score of 8). We qualify this with the provisos that both terms are complex in and of themselves and in their relation to one another. Let us start with the ever-elusive term “secular.” India, France, and Turkey (along with twenty of the African nations we shall scrutinize below) refer to themselves as “secular” in their constitutions. Problematically, these texts never elaborate upon what “secular,” or laïque (in French), or laiklik (in Turkish) actually connotes and the scope of rights and obligations it encompasses.13 Charles Fombad identifies an identical problem in Africa. Reflecting on Cameroon’s formal secular status he asks: “What exactly does this mean, particularly in a situation where neither the constitution itself nor any piece of legislation defines the concept?”14 Thirteen African constitutions stipulate that they abide by the principle of “separation of church and state.” Six African constitutions refer to their nations as “secular” and also separationist (See figure 2: “The ‘Secularism’ and ‘Separationism’ Clauses in African Constitutions”). The “secularism” and “separationism” clauses in African constitutions. The coupling of secularism with separationism necessitates clarification. This is because a secular state need not always practice separationist policies. In popular and even academic discourse, the two are treated as synonyms. It is true that separationism is a type of political secularism. But it is not the only type.15 There are models of secularism, like French laïcité, in which the state explicitly controls religion.16 The more extreme Soviet version of secularism, for its part, featured governments that controlled and essentially abused religions.17 The Indian accommodationist model, by contrast, features a state which endeavors, in good faith, to accommodate, or form partnerships, with religious groups, all of whom are assumed to be equal to one another.18 The laïque, Soviet, and Indian accommodationist frameworks thus demonstrate that there can be secularism without separationism—even in cases where a state imagines, or proclaims itself, to abide by separationist policies.19 The phrase “separation of church and state” itself is troublesome. This signifier creates a confusing dynamic in discussions of proper relations between religion and government. Often described as a rudiment of a liberal democracy, separationism connotes a condition of civic existence nearly impossible to achieve. For how precisely is a state, whose citizens are mostly believers, whose government employees and elected officials are mostly people of faith, whose culture is steeped in centuries of religion(s), supposed to erect a “wall” or impenetrable boundary between government and religious citizens?20 In our typology, states whose constitutions refer to them as secular and/or separationist are considered “unambiguously” secular. As noted above, countries like Nigeria (CSNSI = 8/13) and Ghana (CSNSI = 8/13) do not do so in their foundational documents.21 We might refer to these countries as “ambiguously” secular on the basis of a few constitutional provisions they share with other secular states. It is to such provisions that we now turn. In addition to being secular and/or separationist, a constitutionally secular state may (3) articulate that there is no establishment of religion(s), or favored religion(s). By doing so, it thus posits, whether implicitly or explicitly, the state as neutral vis-à-vis all religious groups under its jurisdiction. An instance of this can be found in the Liberian constitution (CSNSI = 11/13), which reads: “No religious denomination or sect shall have any exclusive privilege or preference over any other, but all shall be treated alike. . Consistent with the principle of separation of religion and state, the Republic shall establish no state religion.”22 This commitment to disestablishment means that (4) all religious citizens possess equal rights. This “equality” principle is on display in the constitution of Guinea-Bissau (CSNSI = citizens are equal the law, the rights and are to the without of or religious or (5) of religious to all citizens is of the secular state. constitution (CSNSI = contains a clause of this of and of of of and religious or of are to In addition, the constitutionally secular state of religion to all of its citizens subject to which are the of the state itself as the legal in the refer to this as “state African secular constitutions religious under the condition that such do not public constitution, for example, “The of and of of of of It the can only be in respect of the and rights of and by the to the public order and good The constitutionally secular state on its own and vis-à-vis the religious it This may be like a and a It may also be an constitutional of on state vis-à-vis religion. of this can be found in the constitution (CSNSI = State and the religious themselves from any of their more secular state might political from being with a religion. Such are in such as In the African we can to cases such as (CSNSI = of the constitution that shall not be for any political to be which to its constitution or or the of any religious or constitutionally secular state might also from themselves in the of the it might explicitly stipulate that public education will not be in point is (CSNSI = where education is secular. education is The law the of its this typology of a constitutionally secular state now it might be to and constitutionally non-secular states in Africa (See figure in of these a state religion and hence the principle of nation with an establishment of religion in theory, be to completely neutral in its with all religious groups under its non-secular states in Africa. “The constitutional secularism and index in Africa by of the most political in states with religious the rights of be they in (CSNSI = or in (CSNSI = of the and of religious is among political secularism’s as we are to not all secular African states in this we stress that within countries with and without religious there will often be citizens who of in who its to a in the in in or the in with of how was not to These demonstrate that there may be and whose are by secular within a constitutionally state. point to is that these may and are, religious and are not their subject that may be of African and so a constitution might it by separation, or state the reality on the might in The of points out “separation of church and state in many of Africa only in the of if secularism in Africa even both as a and legal The that words secularism in African constitutions are We will now a few which that various African nations do not comply with their secular principles. the we will does not to of constitutional The following simply cases of to secular constitutional constitution as one of the most and of its whereas it as an to The its secular with and reads: of State and State and religion are There shall be no state religion The state shall not in religious and religion shall not in state affairs. 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The point to be is that in both its and the constitutional of the that states one religion or As national culture religious to its in a secular state, this in what we call In the Democratic Republic of the points to a that many and In the state is in of in various despite the of secularism in the In have the vis-à-vis the The has been by and of such as of the The to a of It is often that are subject to by governments the there is constitutional the problem is that there is to constitutional edicts that are In a constitutions and are to African and culture or they that such do not the is by a of between which are often Charles Fombad attributes the of the to and in the and postcolonial we might of a preference for as constitutional We will now advance three frameworks to why the of exists. of our start from the fact of and its on of state We to that is to the that any of the of African must The constitution that us African secularisms were by the first of in the nations to their constitutional on from the edicts simply The to to who would be to their more Often these of and of The from was thus like a constitutional As a there was and or as This why so many secular in African constitutions are if not from that of the nations. 4 in Africa by us to the between African secular states and their our twenty-seven constitutionally secular African more or of were French were three were two were and two were and and one was This for in of the fact that most of the were which legal As of the that from in the of political secularism as models for This to a by postcolonial scholars of secularism. 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This to their religion or to be secular might itself in might in or important regarding postcolonial to secularism. 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