Democracy is people’s power of self-governance. Where there is selfgovernance, the people themselves have the power to determine the kind of politicians and political institutions they desire to adopt. The question is whether this or not is the case in Africa; and if not, why? This article hypothesizes that to get the right answers to this question and to address the many challenges facing Africa’s political landscape, Africans need a better understanding of the concept of democracy and its origins. This article discusses the foundation of democracy in Greece, which is rooted in the principle of “self-rule”, while in Western philosophy, it is the principle of “lawful political competition”. Political competition is meant to bring about checks and balances, control unlimited political egoism, and create political stability. The foundations of democracy in traditional African societies were the principles of cooperation, individual merit, and consensus. Moral integrity and acting within moral principles were central to democratic practice. Since modern Africa has inherited its modern democratic principles and practice from the West, without taking into due considerations their pristine philosophical political principles, Africa faces several challenges in the areas of constitutionalism, ethics, merit of political parties, and political leadership.