AFRICA’S GOVERNANCE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 | PRELIMINARY REPORT 2020 2.1 Legal and Institutional Mechanisms The legal and institutional mechanisms deployed by African states in the management of the COVID-19 crisis have included national scientific commissions, monitoring committees, emergency committees and inter-ministerial committees. Several countries have also developed preparedness and response plans. Further, some countries, such as Malawi and South Africa, have laws (national legislation) on disaster preparedness and management, although it is not clear thus far whether or how they are deploying these laws to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. For the most part, African states have established ad hoc legal and institutional mechanisms to respond to the pandemic. coordinated by a high-level emergency committee Chad has established a Health Monitoring and Safety Unit, which the Presidency coordinates. The rule of law and the role of public institutions in a country’s preparedness and resilience in the context of the current Covid-19 is pivotal. The manner in which national public institutions have acted with effectiveness, transparency, sharing information and accountability in Africa reflects a stronger societal value inclination towards inclusiveness. Although African countries have been constantly criticized for being poorly governed, Africa’s governance responses to Covid-19 indicates, to a great extent, a much better degree of institutional preparedness than had been assumed earlier. For example, Algeria has used its national scientific commission to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, while Mozambique has established an advisory technical and scientific committee. Other countries such as Morocco, Nigeria, Togo and Tunisia have established strategic monitoring committees, crisis committees or coordination mechanisms. Yet other countries such as Chad, the Republic of Sudan, Lesotho and Uganda have developed preparedness and response plans. Some countries have also established ministerial or inter-ministerial committees to coordinate their responses to the pandemic. In Uganda’s case, the Ministry of Health is spearheading the implementation of the country’s Preparedness and Response Plan. In Djibouti the Ministry of Health is enhancing its preparedness to deal with the pandemic by building its capacity for surveillance, testing and quarantines. It is also building the capacity of health workers. The Republic of Sudan has developed a Multi-Hazard Emergency Health Preparedness Plan, which is This positive comparative difference between developed and developing countries notwithstanding, it is apparent that many member states lack the requisite legal and institutional mechanisms to handle crises of the magnitude of COVID-19. In order to be effective, legal and institutional mechanisms need to be inclusive and consider the needs of all stakeholders, particularly the vulnerable members of society. These mechanisms should also be accountable to the public for their decision-making, including reporting on the use of public resources and informing the public of their policies and actions. Public participation and accountability are also critical as they help to build social trust, without which affected publics may not comply with measures instituted to manage the pandemic and its impact. There is strong evidence that the onesize-fits-all model of quarantine/lockdown models may not be the foremost effective response to the pandemic. 33