Latter-day coup plotters and dictators are Africa's enemies

Malian army soldiers are seen at the Independence Square after a mutiny, in Bamako, Mali August 18, 2020. [Reuters]

As expected, the international community was swift to condemn the military overthrow of Mali president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Indeed, coups d’état and those who plot them must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Coups an are an ugly blot in the fabric of democracy. Besides soldiers imposing themselves on the people, most coups lead to bloodshed and economic upheaval.

Although coups have become less fashionable in Africa in the last two decades or so, there have been isolated cases where leaders have been uprooted by the military.

Before Keita, President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in Sudan in 2019 while president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was kicked out by the military in 2017. This, of course, is a worrying trend and Africa needs to get back to the drawing board to ensure the dreadful spectre is banished for good.

While it is inexcusable for soldiers to depose a civilian president, leaders are also to blame for arousing this monster. Keita, for instance, had become hugely unpopular in the last few months following elections that many believed were not free and fair.

A flagging economy and widespread insecurity stoked by rampaging Islamist groups in the north had made matters worse for him, forcing protesters to spill to the streets of the capital Bamako, demanding that he steps down. But Keita did not read the signs of the time. He continued to cling on.

The same could be said of Bashir and the late Mugabe. By insisting on clinging on to power when the tide is against them or their terms are over, such leaders become enemies of the people and democracy.

Leaders who amass wealth illegally at the expense of the populace, those who commit human rights abuses, those who rig elections, among other evils, are also enemies of the people. They give power-hungry military personnel excuse to meddle.

And so as we condemn the Mali coup plotters, we must also condemn such leaders. Democracy abhors coups d’état just as it does dictators.

That said, the international community should help Mali regain its footing as quickly as possible to put in place a government that can improve the economic situation and battle the terrorists. That help should not be in the form of military intervention - that could make matters worse - but by initiating and spearheading dialogue to help a return to civilian rule.