Bright Ntramah
President Akufo-Addo has called for collective agreements and bold actions in dealing with Coups on the African Continent. Speaking in Accra at the opening of a forum on Unconstitutional change of Government in Africa, the Chairman of ECOWAS called for the review of the existing AU framework on Coups to include civilians who circumvent the Constitution to stay in power beyond mandated periods. The President who condemned the resurgence of Coups in Africa saying it retards growth, did not rule out foreign involvement.
According to the African centre for strategic studies, 18 African leaders have either modified or eliminated constitutional term limits in their countries in the two decades. Another 8 resisted measures to the Institute term limit. This brings the number of countries in Africa lacking constitutional restraint to 26. The justification for this action is blamed on popular pressure by its citizens to remain in power. This, President Nana Akufo-Addo said, threatens the democratic credentials of the Continent.
He noted that a mere condemnation of military Coups will not achieve the desired results unless actions are taken to sanction Coup makers and ensure the sanctions are fully implemented. He called for the strengthening of existing AU protocols on good governance to sanction civilians who manipulated their Constitutions to extend their stay in power. President Akufo-Addo did not rule out international dimensions to the resurgence of Coups on the Continent.
The ECOWAS Chairman called for concrete efforts in making the Coup d’état unattractive in Africa. He expressed the hope that the forum will discuss and come out with recommendations on how best to solve Unconstitutional change of governments.
Read also: Coup d’état
