The row in Togo over whether Togolese opposition groups should join President Faure Gnassingbe's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) in a credible coalition indicates Africa’s growing democracy.

Togolese democratic disputes are not in themselves insincere or unreasonable. Civilized disputes are a lifeblood of democracy.They make democracy stronger, especially in Africa where political suppression had held sway.

Some section of the opposition hold that Togo’s general elections in March were so badly rigged in favour of the RPT that it is not worth joining, as this would give Africa’s budding democracy a bad name. Others reflect that some of their colleagues have not learnt from the painful past, especially the likes of Gilchrist Olympio, whose father, Sylvanus, was violently overthrown by Eyadema and saw Togo’s then promising democracy destroyed. For striking a deal with the RPT, Togo’s majority opposition parties have suspended its long-serving leader, Gilchrist Olympio.

Considering Togo’s and Africa’s history of political mistrust worsened by Africa’s Big Man syndrome (of which President Eyadema is one of the best examples), the best way is for the opposition to embrace coalition as a way of working to resolve Togo’s electoral reforms, closed politics, development and security. Nigerians are attempting to do this under President Goodluck Jonathan.

While Togolese opposition could learn from the new British coalition government, Mauritius, an African home-grown case, could teach them one or two lessons. David Carment and Yiagadeesen Samy (both at Canada’s Carleton University) explain that since its independence from Britain in 1968, “Mauritius,” with one of the best development indicators in Africa, “has always been governed by coalition governments made up of at least two political parties.” With a population of 1.2 million, the Mauritian leadership, reflecting the African traditional leadership concept of consensus and participation, and the Mauritian reality, “adapted extremely well to its religious and ethnic diversity by promoting the concept of “unity in diversity,” through regular consultations with religious organizations, government subsidies to religious groups, and the (more controversial) “best-loser system” that guarantees seats in parliament for underrepresented minorities.”

In a country of 6 million people and ranked 159th among 180 countries ranked in the 2009 United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), that measure the wellbeing of nations, Togo is among the “low human development” rank. Pretty much of the reason is lack of credible democracy and political pliability. On the other hand, Mauritius whose coalition government has fostered political stability, resilience, high levels of human capital, rule of law, democracy, human rights, and freedoms, is ranked 81st in the HDI and is in the “high human development” rank.

The Togolese opposition may disagree with the wisdom of Gilchrist Olympio in his coalition quest, but added to “human development,” a criteria that judges humanity’s wellbeing such as life expectancy, infant mortality, health, literacy rates and the like, is how civilized a country is – and sometimes a simple vignette of a credible, trustful democratic coalition, as Mauritius demonstrates, capture this essence.