NJIKO: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal of Humanities, Law, Education and Social Sciences

Institutions (GGIs) are epistemically inadequate because they are grounded in Western proceduralism, formal authority, and technocratic rationality, while marginalizing non- Western moral knowledge systems. Drawing on African philosophy (particularly Ubuntu ethics, Innocent Asouzu's complementary ontology (Ibuanyidanda), and communitarian epistemologies), the paper reconceptualizes legitimacy as a relational, moral, and epistemic achievement rather than a merely institutional or procedural ideal. It suggests that legitimacy emerges through mutual recognition, epistemic reciprocity, and the coproduction of norms between governing institutions and affected communities. Situating contemporary legitimacy deficits within the historical legacies of colonial epistemic domination, enables the paper expose how GGIs reproduce asymmetries of voice, representation, and knowledge, especially in the Global South. The paper finds out that African thoughts offer a reconstructive framework that challenges epistemic arrogance, foregrounds communal validation of authority, and demands participatory governance rooted in moral consonance. It concludes that without integrating relational and complementary epistemologies, GGIs may continue to suffer from legitimacy crises that cannot be resolved by procedural reform alone.

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