By Isaac Ofori
In the past four years, there have only been a maximum of four political coups in the West African region.
Three nations, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea, all experienced coups during this period; Guinea Bissau only managed to survive one. In the past nine months, there have been two of these coups in Burkina Faso alone.
The main defence offered for these coups was that the democratically elected administration had let the people down. Since 1960, every coup that has taken place in the region has done so against a backdrop of failing democracy.
But as the organizers of the military coup suggested, has democracy failed the people?
The main issue is that political leaders in many polarized parts of West Africa have not been able to use democracy to provide the dividend that would raise the people’s living standards out of poverty.
Democracy has frequently been viewed as a political employment opportunity for cronies who profit and establish long-lasting syndicates that only benefit a select few.
The rest of the population is left in desperate need of necessities and is consequently exposed to insecurity and other types of human rights abuses since these political elements continue to make decisions that serve their interests.
Regrettably, few administrations in the region had been able to move their nation from developing to developed status. Because of low-income earners, ordinary citizens struggle with poverty, inadequate sanitation, and housing issues.
Despite being viewed as the only method for distributing resources evenly, democracy has been defined by West African leaders as “interest politics,” in which a small number of people create a system and allow it to serve their interests.
The actual issue is that politicians consistently participate in politics of mediocrity, propaganda, and lip service rather than establishing a consensus to grow the country. They have filled democratic institutions that should act independently to maintain balance with their political allies, who continue to keep these institutions unbalanced to allow the syndicate the flourish.
Even though military coups had not lived up to expectations, frequent meddling in democratic institutions shows that most of these nations’ democracies are still in their early stages of development.
Even in nations where stability has been maintained for a longer period, problems with poverty, violations of human rights, and failing institutions beckon for improvement. Another covert technique to stifle the growth of democracy is the former colonial powers’ creeping foreign policy into the sub-region.
These foreign actors prey on leaders’ weaknesses and pull the invisible rope to exert excessive control over resources. Together, these issues have resulted in low democratic dividends, and the subregional hostility that led to the coup was exacerbated by them.
There must be a chance that the recent unrest will spread to other West African nations that may be dealing with the same problems or circumstances that caused the upheaval. To achieve true development and avoid further erosion of democracy among its member nations, the regional bloc (ECOWAS) must step up its game and start deepening its democratic norms.
