Can Africa Outlaw Coups? (Editorial)
Ghanaian Chronicle
January 12, 2000


Accra - The recent coup d'etat in the Ivory Coast
brings to the fore once
more the vexed question of the legitimacy of
governments that come to power
through the barrel of a gun.

This is more so since the general global thinking
leans heavily against
undemocratic governments, especially military ones.

In fact, both the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)
and the Commonwealth
have outlawed coups d'etat, and the hard stand the
latter body took against
the recent coup in Pakistan is ample indication that
the world is saying
'no' to military interventions in democratic
governance.

We also recall the suspension of Nigeria from the
Commonwealth when it
became clear that the late Gen. Sani Abacha, was
manipulating the process of
returning to constitutional rule to enable him hand
over power to himself.

Against the background of these earlier precedents
which clearly indicate a
global aversion for coups d'etat, one cannot but
express amazement at the
coup in la Cote d'Ivoire, and especially its tacit
recognition by the world
community.

The fact that the coup was staged at all, when both
the OAU and the
Commonwealth had unequivocally outlawed military
interventions in
constitutionally elected governments underscores the
difficulty in enforcing
international law.

What is more, the success of the coup in la Cote
d'Ivoire clearly indicates
that the mere fact that coups have been outlawed by
both the OAU and the
Commonwealth is no guarantee that more will occur
again.

Close observers of the political situation in la Cote
d'Ivoire cannot
justifiably claim not to have anticipated some form of
'intervention',
considering the way President Konan Bedie was handling
the democratic
process in that country.

The fact was that though elections had been held and
Konan Bedie was running
the affairs of state as a constitutionally-elected
president, what was going
on in la Cote d'Ivoire was an apology of democracy.

The deliberate repression of opposition forces,
especially the official
frustration of Allasane Ouattara clearly signified the
adulteration of the
democratic process in la Cote d'Ivoire.

The lesson that the entire world community should
learn from the recent
events in Abidjan is that merely outlawing coups
cannot guarantee their
non-occurrence.

The conduct of 'free and fair' elections and the
establishment of the
pillars of democracy should lead ultimately to good
governance and enhanced
standard of living of the people.

The OAU and the Commonwealth and, indeed, the entire
world community have a
duty to ensure that armed opponents of true democracy
do not use fraudulent
means to ascend to leadership positions in developing
countries and practise
counterfeit democracies that will invite interventions
from soldiers.



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