African governments discuss the underlying reasons for coups

At a forum held in Togo, participants criticised outside meddling as a danger to the continent’s peace and democracy.

African nations were urged by participants at the first Lome Peace and Security Forum (LPSF), which the Togolese government’s African Political Alliance (APA) convened, to address the structural causes and conditions that encourage unlawful government takeovers. The forum ended on Sunday.

Faure Gnassingbe, the president of Togo, and foreign ministers from a number of nations, including those in the Sahel region like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where coups have recently taken place, met to kick off the three-day summit, which is backed by the African Union (AU).

The conference’s theme, “How to Strengthen Political Transitions to Democratic Governance in Africa?” was emphasised by a number of authorities from nations with leaders who had been overthrown.

The APA emphasised in a statement released on Sunday following the meeting that “foreign interference and the geopolitical interests of the great powers are likely to aggravate the fragility” of African nations, as well as “threats to peace, stability, democratic consolidation, and development.”

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Four of ECOWAS‘s fifteen members have changed from contested, precarious democracies to military regimes in the past three years, despite the organization’s insistence on zero tolerance for unlawful political transitions.

Since 2020, there have been six military coups in the French-speaking West African region, with two each in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and most recently Niger. The similar pattern of soldiers accusing the government of failing to provide the advantages of democracy has been used in the coups. Also accusing France of interfering inside, the military leaders in Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey terminated their military links with the former colonial power.

Asserting that “undemocratic means to power accentuate fragility of the state, weaken national institutions and the rule of law, and undermine social cohesion,” the APA restated the “African Union’s zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government” on Sunday.

However, the group pushed for a peaceful settlement to the continent’s political difficulties, urging “regional and international organisations to avoid conflict and overlapping agendas in monitoring and supporting political transitions.”

This declaration coincides with ECOWAS’s vow to use force in Niger to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum’s rule after his ouster on July 26. Niamey’s coup leaders have stated their intention to hand over power to the civilian government in three years, but the regional authority has deemed their timetable provocative and rejected it.

After the military government of Mali failed to hold the planned presidential elections last year, ignoring regional and international pressure to return to civilian administration, elections are now set for February 2024.

Burkina Faso’s military administration, meanwhile, declared last month that no elections will take place until the nation, which is battling jihadist insurgencies, is secure enough for everyone to cast a ballot.