President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has implored the African Union (AU) to find feasible ways that would mitigate the unconstitutional overthrow of elected governments on the continent.
Addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the African Union (AU) Reflection Forum on Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa, in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said statistics on unconstitutional change of governments in Africa is not only alarming but unacceptable.
Citing the African Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) report, to buttress his point, he said 18 African leaders have either modified or eliminated constitutional term limits in the past two decades.
“In addition, another eight resisted efforts to institute term limits, bringing the number of countries lacking constitutional restraints on political power to 24”, he added
That, according to President Akufo-Addo represents almost half of the number of countries on the continent.
According to the President, there are those who hanker after authoritarian, personal rule, because they claim Africa is underdeveloped and democracy is cumbersome and expects things should be done in a hurry.
“There are those who seek short-cuts to office to exercise power without limits, and there are those who have no respect for the free choices of our sovereign people, because they do not accord with their so-called ideological preferences,” he added.
He, therefore, implored on good people of Africa and the leaders of the member states to educate people with such mindset for them [people who believe in unconstitutional rule] to understand that “we are all safer under democracies”
Citing another data from the 2019 Annual Risk of Coup Report, the President noted that Africa has experienced more coup d’états than any other continent.
He said according to the report 30 percent of all coup attempts on the continent have occurred in countries practising democracy.
Using his own experience, he said “As current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, I have witnessed directly the devastating effects that coups d’états and attempted coups have had on the region–Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, and an unsuccessful attempt in Guinea Bissau.
He said some of those opportune leaders in order to justify their unconstitutional stay in office had argued that their continuous stay in power is “in response to popular pressure by their people to remain in office and that term limits, have no meaning in poor and under-developed societies where uplifting citizens is of the highest priority”.
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He added that others believed that leaders should remain in office if they continue winning elections, “however, the electoral processes that have been used to extend term limit or removals in Africa have often been marred by allegations of widespread irregularities.”
According to President Akufo-Addo “ruling parties that ply this route usually enjoy almost total control of most if not all, endeavors of government and the electoral machinery”
“Consequently, African people have paid a steep price for efforts by leaders to circumvent constitutional term limits”, he added.
He said evidence of this was the upwards of 90% of the 24 countries that either lack term limits on the continent and various levels of civil unrest and political instability including coup d’états it [Africa] is experiencing.
He said the continent’s unity and resolve should send a clear message to coup plotters that coups have never been, and will never be durable solutions to Africa’s political, economic and security challenges.
On solution to coups on the continent, he said condemning coups without corresponding action would achieve little or nothing adding that “this problem requires collective agreement, effective deterrence, bold action and, equally important, adequate preventive measures”.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
