West Africa’s Failing Democracies triggering a Pandemic of Military Coups – Haruna Iddrisu

Poor governance, dishonest and corrupt leadership are the main causative factors for the surge in Coup D’etats in the West African region, Ghana’s minority leader in parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, has observed

The Member of Parliament for Tamale South Constituency, within the northern provinces of Ghana and leader of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the law making chamber believes that democracy is failing in the region and requires urgent and drastic measures by the governments of member states to quell the wave of military takeovers.

“We are seeing a pandemic of coups because democracy in west Africa is on a downward spiral, the continent’s youth remain despondent without jobs and devoid of any hope of a better life, some becoming easy recruits of terrorist groups and heightening sense of general insecurity as well as economic insecurity, meanwhile governments in the region either don’t seem to care or are oblivious of the realities,’’ he said in an interview in the capital, Accra on January 28, 2022.

Coups were perceived to be things of the past but unfortunately most of the region’s democratically elected leaders brought the coups to the fore as they soon transformed into autocratic dictators with extravagant and opulent lifestyles at the peril of the poorer populaces. They also started tempering with their constitutions for political gain while crushing dissenting voices, a phenomenon that really pushed the citizenry beyond tolerance levels.

Burkina Faso became the third West African country after Mali and Guinea to have experienced military overthrows within the spate 18months. In all the cases the new military Junta blamed the democratically elected president for excesses that necessitated the takeover to `save’ the country from further hardship and threats to lives.

The Lt-Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba-led gang said the military take-over was due the President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré’s loss of control over insecurity posed by militia groups to the security forces and the Burkinabes.

The poor governance also means that security personnel in member states are not adequately equipped to quell the growing insecurity in their respective countries, Haruna opined, “And that why ECOWAS needs a regional military force Akin to NATO (in the EU). “Under President Mahama, (then ECOWAS Chair) he supervised the deployment of troops to The Gambia when President Jammeh refused to hand over after losing elections. That successful military intervention confirmed the notion that an external force was an inherent African solution when all else fails,’’ particular at this time of widespread violent extremism which is threatening the stability of the region.

ECOWAS governments must take their citizens seriously and work to advance the course their nation, the principles of transparency, accountability and honesty remain the keys to help reverse this unfortunate wave of coups, he said.

By Papa Kow Manu