Author: Chinedu Onwe is a dedicated lawyer, academic research writer, and
editor with over 5 years of experience producing high-quality, analytical
content in law, international relations, and global politics. His work is
driven by a deep passion for the International Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) and
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), reflecting his keen interest in how legal
frameworks interface and influences global peace, security, and governance.
Publisher: Fulcrum Analytics.
INTRODUCTION
In their work titled ”Governance,
Politics an the State”, Jon Pierre and Guy Peters defined true governance
as the “patterns and processes of rule that emerge in a society when the
boundaries between state, market and civic society become blurred, emphasizing
accountability, participation, and legitimacy”. It depicts the departure from
traditional governance system to a system where there is absence of absolute
state control, giving room for contribution from other democratic institutions
to participate in governance process and address social and economic needs. The
pursuit for true governance is not alien to the West African political climate.
This ‘search’ for true governance has metamorphosed into the multiple coups
that has plagued the region in post-colonial times.
The region is notorious for being a military
coup hotspot, with many of the coup in Africa being conducted in West
Africa. Since 2019, out of the nine coup conducted in Africa, six of them
occurred in West Africa. The affected countries include: Mali, Niger, Guinea,
Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau (attempted coups).
Figure1: Table of military coup across
West Africa since 2019
To repress the emergence of
unconstitutional change of power, the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) and the Africa Union (AU) had enacted extant international law
instruments that promotes democratic rule while prohibiting the usurpation of
political power by state or non-state actors. Article 1 of the 2001
Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance promotes the accession
to power via free and credible election, while prohibiting any unconstitutional
change of power. Article 45 of the Protocol imposes “sanctions, close borders,
or suspend financial assistance to the offending regime” by the ECOWAS. In the
same vein, the AU’s Lome Declaration of
2000, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG, 2007), collectively prohibits the
unconstitutional change of power, while imposing election ban on individual
perpetrators and suspending the membership of the violating country from the
Union’s activities.
However, these laws have not stalled the
activities of coup plotters, particularly in the region. As the laws strive to
promote democractic values in governnment process, the recent coup in the
region collectively wrested power from the democratic government to counter
issues of insecurity,
massive corruption, poor governance, lack of free, fair, and credible election,
and foreign policy factors. Hence their defense, the need for social and
economic changes was the driving force behind these military coup, thus
reflecting the interconnection between the action of coup plotters and the
strive for true governance. How have they fared in this pursuit? An analysis of
the key reasons for the coup will offer a better perspective to the issue.
1. Insecurity
Insecurity challenges was the major
reason behind the 24 January 2022 coup in Burkina Faso. The former
President, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, was criticised for
his inability to combat the deepening insecurity crises in the country. Led by
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the military junta was
short-lived as Captain Ibrahim
Traoré overthrew the Damiba-led regime following its failure to
combat the worsening insecurity challenges which led to the lose of 40%
of Burkina Faso’s territory by September 2022. This was also one of the
major reasons behind the 2020 and 2021 coups in Mali
and the 2023 coup in Niger.
However, despite the political changes, the region is still riddled with
insecurity challenges as it has been described as the ‘epicenter of terrorism’
globally. What is more worrisome is that the situation has worsened since the
military coups occurred. In 2020, in the Global
Terrorism Index (GTI) list of top 10 countries impacted by terrorism,
Nigeria was the highest ranking country from the region in the number four spot
(8.007), followed by Burkina Faso which came in the sixth place (7.646) and
Mali in seventh position (7.414). However, the latest 2024 GTI
ranking places Burkina Faso in the number one spot (8.581) globally, in
addition to Mali moving up to the number four spot, followed by Niger in the
number five spot (it was ranked 12th in 2020) and Nigeria moving
down to the number six spot.
Figure
2: Map showing intensity of terrorism attacks in West Africa as of 2019.
Source: ACLED, 2019
Figure
3: Latest (2024) map of the region showing the countries with the highest of
terrorism. Source: 2025 Global Terrorism Index
2. Corruption
and bad governance
Corruption and bad governance were some of
the justification brought forward by the military juntas for the coup in Niger,
Mali, and Guinea.
The respective military governments, while denouncing the deposed
administration’s efforts, promised to end an era riddled with corruption and
promote good governance. However, little or no progress appear to have been
registered. According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Niger ranks 107th out
of 180 countries with a global CPI score of 34/100 (moving two places from the
32 in 2022). Mali ranks 135th out of 180 countries, with a CPI
score of 27/100 (having scored 29 in 2021, and 28 in 2022 and 2023), and Guinea
is ranked 133rd
with a CPI score of 28/100 (moving up by 3 points from the 25th
point before the coup).
Figure
4: CPI score for Mali. ©
Transparency.org
The Solability
Governance Efficiency Ranking put Mali at 173 out of 191 countries with a
score of 32.89; Niger at 158 with a score of 37.27, and Guinea in 181 out of
191, with a score of 30.91. These rankings show that not much has changed with
respect to tackling corruption and promoting good governance within the
affected countries. For Niger, while the indications look promising, it still
struggles with one of the highest
cases of youth unemployment in Africa, according to the International
Labour Organization.
3. Lack
of free, fair and credible election
Extant regional and continental legal
instruments like the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007) and the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and
Good Governance (2001) provide for periodic
elections as a key feature of a democratic system. These laws embodies the
visions and intentions of the AU and ECOWAS which ensures that member states
promote the and embrace democracy as a system of governance. Since the military
coup, the regimes have renegaded on their promises to hold free, fair and
credible elections which will see the transition to civilian democratic rule,
while consolidating said political powers. This follows the disruption of
civilian rule following the military coup.
The junta in Mali had earlier announced a two-year
delay for the return to democratic rule which had expired in 2024; the
leader of the military government in Niger has been sworn in for a five-year
term in March 2025 under a new charter that replaced the Constitution; the
Guinea coup of 2021 occurred in response to a controversial election which saw
President Condé secure a third-term
in office against the constitutional two-term in office, however the regime
amended the Constitution which will see the leader of the military government
contest the civilian election in clear violation of Article 25(4) of the
African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007); and the military
junta in Burkina Faso extended its military rule for 60
months (five years) from July 2, 2024.
4. Foreign
interference
The accusation of western
political interference as part of the justification for the military coups
ended up drumming local support for these regime, particularly given their
francophone status and the maintained presence of French and foreign troops in
their territories. However, since the coup, this ideology has fueled government
cynicism that has led to clampdowns and even promotion of international foreign
policy that not only runs antithesis to their earlier justification, but also
questioned their political alignment to promoting international law and order.
For example, the regime in Niger
and Burkina
Faso have forced several international humanitarian, nongovernmental
organization to shut down operation, resulting in the loss of jobs while
deepening the existing humanitarian crises in the country. Also, with the
expulsion of the French and other foreign troops from the affected countries,
Russia forces (first through Wagner
Group and now Africa Corp) have established their military presence in
these territories, in violation of extant laws like the Accra Declaration.
Additionally, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have all withdrawn from the ECOWAS
following similar accusation of foreign interference in the Organization and
formed the Association of Sahel States (AES); withdrawn
from the International Criminal Court (ICC) describing it as a tool of
neo-colonialist repression, while moving to establish its own criminal court
rooted in local realities.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Jon Pierre’s True Governance embodies
three main features - accountability, participation and legitimacy. These
features ensure that a government truly represents the core values necessary to
ensure that the society thrives. The military regimes assumed power with the
‘hopes’ of transforming the existing flaws to progress; available data and
information prove otherwise. It is therefore recommended that these regimes
assume the necessary accountability to their citizens and by extension
to the continent by peacefully transitioning to civilian rule in line with
existing regional and continental instruments, which would promote participation
and reintegration with the rest of the international community, thus ensuring
that the government is clothed with the legitimacy necessary for it to
address the social and economic needs of the people.
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