Africans Want Democracy but Are Squeezed between Autocrats and Coup Makers-NDI’s Chris Fomunyoh

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

BUEA, September 1, 2023 – Since 2020, there have now been eight coups on the African continent and renewed unease about coups “returning” and democracies “dying” in Africa. Governance deficits, non-fulfilment of the entitlements of citizenship, frustrated masses (most of whom are young) and growing insecurity are chief among the reasons why coups have increased on the continent.

With many civilians disenfranchised, not satisfied with their leaders who they think have held power for too long, they now see the coup leaders as their saviour rather than a coup being a bad thing.

“I'm surprised and, to a large extent, pretty disappointed because in the last two or three decades, we've seen incremental progress in trying to consolidate democracy in many countries across Africa. And in the past three years, we've seen a lot of backsliding that's culminated in the military coups to which you referred,” Dr Christopher Fumonyoh of the National Democratic Institute told NPR's Michel Martin about coups in Africa, including the latest in the Central African nation of Gabon.

“And Gabon just happens to be one more case of a country that was making some progress, albeit faulting progress. But that is now being taken over by the military.”

The coup in Gabon is Africa's eighth coup since 2020 and follows that of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The mutinous soldiers put President Ali Bongo under house arrest on Wednesday, hours after he was declared the winner of an election that would have extended his family's 55-year rule in the oil-rich Central African nation.

Within minutes of the announcement of the election result, gunfire was heard in the centre of Libreville. Later, a dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television and announced that they had seized power. “Long live our army,” said Jordy Dikaba, a young man walking with his friends on a street lined with police as reported by Aljazeera.

"Every country’s context is different, stands out. But three main traits are beginning to come through in the coups that we've seen thus far. In the countries in the Sahel - such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic - the pretext used by the military has been the inability of civilian-led governments to fight violent extremism in those countries. In the coastal countries - such as Gabon and Guinea, Conakry, before that - the pretext used by the military was bad governance and issues, controversies around elections or constitutionalism and term limits," Fumonyoh added.

“And then we have a third trait that's come out of countries such as Chad and Sudan, where it's just the old-style thinking that only the military can guarantee stability in those countries. So, we're going to have to tease these theories out, but they do differ from country to country, ” says Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, Regional Director for Central and West Africa at the NDI.

In 2021, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that "military coups are back," adding that "geo-political divisions are undermining international co-operation and... a sense of impunity is taking hold," he said. Overall, Africa has experienced more coups than any other continent. Of the 18 coups recorded globally since 2017, all but one - Myanmar in 2021 - have been in Africa.

“I think there's a role because Africa is part of the globe and these things don't happen in isolation, and also because the world has become such a global village,” Fomunyoh said on the question of if there is a role for foreign governments to play here? Or could they do more harm than good by intervening?

"And things that happen even in places that are geographically distant from the United States end up affecting us one way or the other. And military coups that undercut the principles of democracy that are one of the underpinnings of U.S. foreign policy must draw everyone's attention because ultimately, people are going to determine their partnerships with the United States based on the commitment that the United States has to foster these democratic principles."