African leaders must address unconstitutional practices as the root cause of Coup d’etat on the continent – Security Analyst

A security analyst and Executive Director of the Africa Center for Human Security and Emergency Management (ACHSEM),
Bill Godson Ocloo says, African leaders must address unconstitutional practices and corruption in our governance systems which were the root cause of Coup d’etats on the continent.

“If we are to address the issue of the removal of democratically elected heads of state (governments) by the military, our leaders must also address the issues of bad governance and institutional failure, marginalization of the vulnerable population and corruption which has crippled the economy of many African countries,” he said.

Ocloo said these in an interview with Ghananewsonline.com.gh following Wednesday’s Coup d’etat in Gabon.

According to him, the two recent Coup d’etat in Niger and Gabon must serve as a wake up call to leaders of ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) to identify and map out strategies to deal with the imposition of political and economic Coup d’etat on member countries especially the francophone ones, by their former colonial masters.

The ACHSEM founder indicated that the removal of democratically elected governments by the military was not the only type of Coup d’etat being witnessed on the continent, both in the past and in recent times, but political and economic Coup d’etat, backed by the continent’s former colonial masters, especially France, who still had interests in the affairs of the continent.

“Forcing all 20 former French colonies on the continent to sell all their natural resources to France is a Coup d’etat, France having military bases in some these countries is a Coup d’etat, forcing the people of these former colonies to be trained only by France and having French soldiers hold positions in their national armies, is a Coup d’etat.”

Forcing these former colonies to deposit 50% of their foreign reserves in France is also a Coup d’etat,” he indicated.

The ACHSEM Executive Director questioned the rational behind ECOWAS and AU Security Council meetings if such sittings cannot address the many security issues the sub region and the continent was grappling with, adding “these political and economic Coup d’etat have had dire consequences on the lives of the citizens of the affected countries with ECOWAS and AU looking on without taking action.”

Ocloo called on leaders of ECOWAS and AU to table these political and economic Coup d’etat and come out with strategies and solutions to change the status quo “as no African country is immuned to these Coup d’etat.”

He observed that behind such political and economic Coup d’etat, there were millions of children dying from starvation and going to bed on empty stomachs, millions of African youth without employment, millions of women dying during child birth among other socio-economic challenges.

The security analyst said, if the interest of ECOWAS and AU, was truly about Africans, there was the need to look at the global view with the best eye view of the issues and have a frank and fair discussion of what was really going on in Africa as the carnage happening on the continent is not all what ECOWAS and AU was about.

“Leadership is about the people, about creating a better life for the people – but if we allow those who have committed grievous crimes in Africa continue to create Coup d’etat, we must also deal with the aftermath of these political and economic Coup d’etat on the continent,” he indicated, adding, military interventions in these crisis was not the best option in restoring democracy and constitutional order to the affected countries.

He called on the leadership of ECOWAS and AU to come together to engage in constructive conversation, and meaningful discussions to see what was ultimately good for the people especially in all former French colonies on the continent as the wave of Coup d’etats on the continent in recent times was becoming a dangerous trend which needed to be dealt with strategically and diplomatically because “the continent is sitting on a time bomb, waiting to explode.”

Ocloo further advised France to take a critical look at its foreign policy on former colonies and to ensure that hope, dignity and sovereignty was restored to the suffering masses of those countries, adding, “that is the only way to address the growing hostility against France by the masses of these former colonies and prevent these Coup d’etat going forward.”

By Leo Nelson || Ghananewsonline.com.gh