What is a
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public document published by a political party before an election. It sets out what the party believes, what it promises to do if it wins power, and what kind of future it is asking citizens to vote for.
It is not a press release. It is not a campaign slogan. It is a formal, written commitment — made in public, before witnesses, on the record.
WHY IT EXISTS
A manifesto is where those promises are written down.
Before every election, political parties ask for your vote. A manifesto is the document that explains what they are asking you to trust them with — and what they are committing to do if you give them that trust.
Without a manifesto, political promises live only in speeches, rallies, and social media posts. They can be denied, reworded, or forgotten. A published manifesto cannot be taken back. It becomes part of the record.
Who is the AfroManifesto
archive for
The archive is built for anyone who believes that political promises should be part of the public record. That includes first-time voters trying to understand what parties stand for, experienced voters comparing a party’s current commitments with its history, journalists and researchers working on accountability or political analysis, civil society organisations monitoring party conduct, and educators looking for primary source material on African democratic politics.
You do not need an academic background or political expertise to use it. The documents are presented as published. What you do with them is entirely yours.
Do all political parties publish manifestos
Most parties contesting democratic elections publish some form of manifesto or policy platform. The depth, length, and accessibility of these documents varies significantly — from comprehensive policy frameworks to shorter statements of intent.
Where a manifesto exists, AfroManifesto preserves it. Where one has not yet been submitted or located, the archive records that absence explicitly.