There has been yet another Coup D’état in Africa, this time around another West African country, Burkina Faso.
Only one coup was recorded in 2020, but in 2021 there have been coups in Niger, Chad, Mali, and Guinea. Three of the coups were recorded in West Africa.
Coup D’états in Africa, were used as a common means of changing the political order in the wake of decolonization, it was usually staged by the military.
Between 1960 and 2000, the overall number of coups and coup attempts stood at an average of four per year, according to a study by Jonathan Powell, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, and Clayton Thyne, a professor at the University of Kentucky.
Coup D’états decreased to about two per year, but since 2019, they seem to be staging a comeback, prompting people to start asking whether democracy is good for Africa.
Five coups within the last few months are a dangerous trend indeed in the sub-region. Various reasons have been assigned for military interventions.
Chiefly, among them is sit-tight leadership. Most African leaders have the penchant for amending the constitution to prolong their stay in power.
The second most important reason is corruption. Corruption has robbed most countries of needed development, because the political leaders are only interested in lining their pockets at the expense of the general populace.
It would appear it is just difficult to hold African leaders accountable and therefore coup d’états are becoming a norm once again.
This newspaper urges African leaders to shun sit-tight mentality. Also, good governance, improved socio-economic conditions, free, fair, and credible elections, will make military takeovers in Africa less attractive and the ugly phenomenon will naturally fizzle out.
