AAPS President remarks
Thank you for reposing your confidence in me to lead a reinvented AAPS for the next two
years. It is a vote of confidence I do not and will not take lightly.
We have spent long hours over the last 2 days on this conference and meeting of African
political scientists; old and young, established and emerging so I shall be brief in making a
few pledges here and giving you a sense of my vision for APPS over the next 2 years.
1. I promise to hand over AAPS to the next president alive and well. It means we will
keep its current membership intact and grow new ones. Often times keeping the
membership of an association is not seen as an achievement but when you consider
how fast associations can die especially over disaffection within its fold and when a
strong association as AAPS used to be in the 1990s dies suddenly and remains
moribund for 10 years, you will appreciate why keeping it intact by 2024 will be an
achievement.
In terms of mission and policy direction for the next 2 years, I shall work with the Executive
committee to:
1. Institutionalize good governance. Having been at the EC of IPSA for 5 years now, I
have learnt best practice for good governance benchmarks that AAPS will benefit
from towards developing our own good governance charter which is critical to our
survival over time.
2. Mainstream gender and youth into all AAPS leadership structures and ensure
gender and diversity in AAPS research, publications and conference activities. I am
glad our core EC Officers (President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer) has a gender
balance of 50/50 with youth represented also.
3. Internationalise AAPS and its activities across the world with strong representation
in all IPSA activities
4. Support the establishment of national political science associations in Africa
5. Resuscitate our AAPS journal the African Journal of Political Science (AJPS) as an
open access online journal
There is consensus within the political science and related fraternities today that there is a
need for an association to help provide platforms for tackling the old and new political
questions of our time. Such an association would build on the legacy of AAPS, but reach
further in relation to issues, facilities and challenges of our time today. Therefore, the launch
conference for the new association looks back into the AAPS days in order to look forward
into emerging issues and questions both in its intellectual agenda and in the manner
in which it will be managed. It will draw in national associations, national departments in
political science and related fields, individual scholars including emerging scholars from the
continent and in the African diaspora.
On behalf of the newly elected Executive Committee of AAPS, I would like to thank you for
attending our 16th Conference and General Meeting. We deeply appreciate all your
contributions as presenters, session chairs, discussants, and attendees. Your dedication to
participate in the conference shows your commitment and support for expanding AAPS.
As President of the Executive Committee, I pledge our commitment to work hard along with
my colleagues to advance the study and teaching of Political Science across Africa and build
long-lasting relationships with colleagues and organizations in and out of the continent.
Thank you for your time.
Prof Christopher Isike
AAPS President.