Over the decades after attaining independence from their colonial masters, African countries have been widely known for coups and counter-coups. Out of 214 attempted coups,106 have been successful. This is a huge percentage of the global total of 486 coups since 1950s. This data was collected by Powell and Thyne’s data. However, it’s charming to know that in the past decades such cases have been on the decline and Africa has been experiencing less and less coups. This enticing trajectory might come to a premature end. The number of coups is on the rise again on the continent over the past few years. Countries like Chad,Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso have recently experienced coups in the last three to two years. Burkina Faso and Mali have even experienced multiple coups in a short span of time. Experts have been left to ponder what the cause of the increased number of coups might be. With each passing day fears are increasing that majority of African nations might return to the past years of extreme anarchy characterised by instability,chaos,lack of democracy and economic as well as social degradation. Some factors are however certain. The economic situation of these countries experiencing coups is dire and they are mostly concentrated in West Africa and Central Africa. They coups can however spread to other parts as time progresses. These might give the experts a hint of what really happening or a place to begin with.
The last one in close succession of coups is a counter coup in Burkina Faso. The junta leader,Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who ousted the elected president Roch Kaboré back in January has been consequently removed from power by the thirty four year old Ibrahim Traore. The coup took place on 30th September in the capital Ouagadougou. Damiba is a lieutenant colonel in the army while Traore is a captain. It might seem like some sort of karma since Lt col Damiba has been accused of the same issues he accused the ousted former president Kaboré-the security issue which has been an Achilles heel for the stability and development of the Central Africa country. The country has been battling the Islamic jihadist of Al-Qaeda and ISIS since late nineties. The situation has only deteriorated and the army has lost approximately fifty percent of the country to the insurgents. The new junta leader Traore will be taking over as the new leader of the transition government. He is young and might be inexperienced in matters politics and running of the country. However,the army and civilian support him and the direction the country will take only waits to be seen. He takes charge at a time when the nascent nation is faced by multifaceted crises compounded by the continuous conflict. Humanitarian crisis due to hunger and the ongoing conflict being at the top of the otherwise long list.
Surprisingly, during the riots in the aftermath of the coup,the protesters were seen to be carrying both the Burkinabe flags and the Russian flags. This has opened a very big Pandora box and triggered outpouring of conflicting opinions. During the riots,the French embassy was also vandalized and there are unconfirmed reports on social media that it might have been burned to the ground. The protesters welcomed Russia to come to their rescue. It’s not clear whether Russia got the message. Most of the former colonies of France are moving away from it’s control in west Africa. They blame the colonial power for years of mismanagement of their country and supporting the insurgents. Anti-French sentiments have been spreading rapidly across borders from Mali, to Chad,to Niger and Burkina Faso. Intermittent demonstrations against the French have been witnessed in most of these countries and is spreading to others too. My opinion is that it will continue to spread until all the former colonies of France get rid of France. It’s taking the same approach as the infamous Arab spring in 2011. French policies to it’s former colonies which might be termed as “colonies”still because nothing much has changed are repressive and leaves these countries almost destitute. It’s akin to a yoke. This is why almost all the former french colonies are poor and embroiled in neverending conflicts. I can name a few like Haiti, Syria,Mali and even Burkina Faso. The new junta leaders now have the luxury of choosing who their partners will be. The citizens have spoken and will be keen on the steps the new leaders will take. Will they continue to cooperate with France and move towards Russia? The ball is now in their court.
Anonymous 