Takyiwaa Manuh to African leaders: Fix socio-economic challenges to avert coups
In the past two years there have been military takeovers in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Guinea, as well as further east in Sudan
- "When you look at the conditions of life in West Africa, they’re not very pleasant. Look at Guinea, they have not really enjoyed democratic governance. We were told that the multi-party system was going to bring change but what has happened to our political parties?"
The former director of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Prof Emerita Takyiwaa Manuh has charged African leaders to deal with challenges confronting their countries as part of measures to avert coups.
Prof Manuh’s comment follows Tuesday’s botched coup in Guinea Bissau which left many members of the security forces dead.
Coups appear to be making a comeback in West and Central Africa. Over the past two years, there have been military takeovers in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Guinea, as well as further east in Sudan.
Addressing core issues
“If we’re really going to change and hope that the spate of coups will be dealt with, then we need to address issues that lead to seizures of power.
“This is a region of high illegal migration. We hear of people being smuggled into the other parts of the world. All of these should tell us about the conditions of people,” she said on Townhall Talk on Asaase Radio (4 February).
She added: “When you look at the conditions of life in West Africa, they’re not very pleasant. Look at Guinea, they have not really enjoyed democratic governance. We were told that the multi-party system was going to bring change but what has happened to our political parties?”
ECOWAS now a laughing stock
In an earlier interview, Manuh described the spate of coups in the West African sub-region as worrying.
“What is happening is very worrying but it gives us an opportunity to dialogue to improve our systems to reinvigorate confidence of the people in the government.
“When ECOWAS imposes sanctions, people laugh because where were they when the other happenings were occurring? It puts their credibility in doubt,” she said on The Asaase Breakfast Show.
She added: “We have a lot of institutions [to resolve conflicts] but we are not allowing them to work. When somebody changes the rules and runs for a third-term we didn’t hear ECOWAS condemning that… And what it does is that it eats into the credibility of ECOWAS and the African Union.”
State of insecurity
Manuh called for a relook at the state of insecurity on the continent.
“The Jihadist groups that emerged from the fall of Libya and the massive arms that they control are all contributing to instability on the continent.
“It is important that we look at this state of insecurity in West Africa as not just a West African problem but an issue for the whole continent. Our borders are so porous that when there is a problem in one country then it will spill over into the other,” she said.
Fred Dzakpata
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