In the last 10 years, Africa has been subjected to a spate of military coups against democratic governments. The roll call covers countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Mali, and Niger.

Sub-Saharan Africa appeared to have been caught up in the third wave of democratization that gained intensity in the twilight of bipolarity in the late 1980s. Although an interesting development, going by political developments, however, it can be argued that the wave has been fluctuating with spells of military coups here and there. This development is worrisome and has engendered a debate about the return of men on horseback.

The coup phenomenon has further gained salience following the recent coup in the land of dignity, Burkina Faso. On September 30, Captain Ibrahim Traore toppled Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who earlier in January ousted the democratic government of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, for the same reason, that is, his inability to deal with insurgency ravaging the country.

Capitaine Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s new president, attends the ceremony for the 35th anniversary of Thomas Sankaraís assassination, in Ouagadougou, on October 15, 2022. – Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power a fortnight ago in a coup in Burkina Faso, attended a ceremony on October 15, 2022 to mark the 35th anniversary of the assassination of revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, an AFP reporter noted. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)

Indeed, Damiba was unable to defeat the rebels and lost even more territory to Jihadists and other militants. Besides, his brinksmanship in dealing with the situation led to the sack of his defence minister, a position he had to assume. However, it did not abate the growing discontentment, and the consequence was yet another coup.

Expectedly, the coup was roundly condemned as unconstitutional. The Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) opposed the coup and added that it came inauspiciously as Burkina Faso was on course to a constitutional government.

According to the statement, “ECOWAS reaffirms its unreserved opposition to any seizure or retention of power by unconstitutional means and demands the scrupulous respect of the timetable already agreed with the Transitional Authorities for a rapid return to constitutional order…” Also, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, condemned the coup as “unconstitutional” and called for a return to constitutional order.

As we have argued previously on the issue of military incursion into politics in Africa, the causative factors are to be sought in the objective conditions of society as well as the external environment. Burkina Faso’s relay of coups is rooted in unrest within army ranks over the handling of jihadist insurgency spread into the country from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

The insurgent activities have led to the death of thousands of people and about two million displaced persons. To make matter worse, more than a third of the country remains ungoverned and a domain of the insurgents. To be sure, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger are facing destabilisation activities from the insurgents buoyed by the proliferation of armaments from the Libyan civil war.

The crisis of governance in Africa is compounded by the longstanding economic crisis and political instability in a continent that has been at the receiving end of global injustice and elite misrule.

As things are in Burkina Faso today, it seems that genuine solutions can only come from elite consensus. It is well that by means of a national forum attended by about 300 delegates drawn from social forces in the country, namely, political parties, social and religious groups, security forces, unions as well as people displaced by jihadist violence, Traore has pledged to abide by the transition timetable put in place by the ousted Damiba to return the country to a civilian government by July 2024.

The forum adopted article five of a “transition charter” which stipulates that the head of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR)assumes the positions of transition president, head of state, and chief of the armed forces. Also, the forum adopted the position that the transition president’s mandate will end with the inauguration of a president that would emerge from the elections billed to hold in 2024 with the proviso that the transition president will not be eligible to stand in elections meant to wind up the transition period at any levels.

The fundamental point really is that there is no alternative to the democratic principle for succession to power; the alternative is anarchy. The people must be allowed to be the arbiter and elector in the governance continuum. This guarantees stability and provides a ground conducive to development. However, beyond the cycle of condemnation and urging for a return to constitutional order, leadership in Africa must find concrete ways to deal with the objective factors responsible for coups in Africa. Economic crisis and elite malfeasance must be tackled. So also is external meddlesomeness.

Nevertheless, the insurgency has now assumed a continental scourge that requires that the Africa Union (AU) put in place a standby force to deal with this phenomenon and avert distraction from the goal of development. The interim measure would be for regional military groups such as the ECOWAS and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to mobilise standby military forces to face the insurgents and flush them from the continent.

Capitaine Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s new president, arrives at the ceremony for the 35th anniversary of Thomas Sankaraís assassination, in Ouagadougou, on October 15, 2022. –

PHOTO CAPTION:•Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power a fortnight ago in a coup in Burkina Faso, attended a ceremony on October 15, 2022 to mark the 35th anniversary of the assassination of revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, an AFP reporter noted.