CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Justin Mendy, Senegal, January 2000
THEME = POLITICS
"The fall of Bédié (Editor's note: Côte d'Ivoire's former president) is a clear warning to all autocratic Presidents who disregard Constitutions and manipulate state institutions. Under pretence of being democrats, they are anti-democratic to the core. The days of army rule are long gone; likewise the time when people were forced to accept everything; the era of military intervention by the neo-colonial powers of Paris or London is over. Africa wants to take responsibility for its destiny against all the Bédiés who obstruct the desire for liberty, progress, democracy and development." Such is the conclusion of Mr. Madièye Mboji, head of the training school for future leaders of one of Senegal's main opposition parties, The African Party for Democracy and Socialism. His views are in sharp contrast (naturally) with the more moderate opinion of Mr. Omar Bongo, Gabon's President, who offered this comment on the many coups d'etat which have taken place in Africa: "Wrongs have been done by those responsible for the coups d'etat; there have also been wrongs committed by Heads of State."
The wrongs imputed to those who engineered the coups d'etat, hinge on personal ambitions and a very narrow view of national responsibility and the exercise of political power. Yet you can't get away from the fact that national responsibility and the exercise of political power both require an attitude of service for the benefit of the whole nation, in justice and equity. But what do we have? Having served side by side with Heads of State or simply to have hung around the corridors of power and acquired some leadership qualities, however rudimentary, army people of various ranks -þ from General to Corporal -þ feel that they are in duty bound to "achieve justice in the name of the higher interests of the nation". This conceited claim, which frequently fails, often leads to successive coups d'etat, according to the adage: "Get out of the way and let me do it". When you have coups d'etat whose only reason is to satisfy personal ambition or private interests, the wellbeing of the people cannot improve, indeed it may deteriorate. In this case people begin to hanker after the despised old regime.
As regards the wrongs attributed to Heads of State, they were facilitated by the one-party system with its attendant political, social, economic, cultural, even spiritual structures. That is what led to the repression of free speech for many sectors of society, and in extreme cases, the eruption of violence as the only possible way of getting rid of oppressive regimes. And the army, as the only "independent" organised force available, was the ideal means of bringing about change.
The arrival of democratic systems in the 1990s, imposed in a manner of speaking by western powers, was aimed at establishing or restoring respect for the rights of man, through freedom of speech, multi-party systems and regular and fair elections. In some places, in spite of many backslidings, this approach was respected, through the proliferation of private media and more or less free and fair elections.
But in many other places the multi-party system was circumvented in different ways, particularly by vote-rigging on a greater or lesser scale. Other means were also used, such as bribery, threats, selling of ministerial posts and even blackmail. In other words, in spite of the restoration of democracy and multi-party systems, "Many gerontocrates, patriarchs and worthy dictators succeeded in staying in power by means of rigged elections or other kinds of trickery", wrote Steve Mbekhi in Gabon's bi-monthly Misau on 27 December 1999. In the same issue, Patrice Bayeba N'gogo was of the opinion that "multi-party systems were born in most African countries without bringing about democracy. With the winds of change some, heads of state quit politics but their successors were not always the "model" democrats, people expected". And he concludes: "Disappointed hopes, corrupt democracies, that is the legacy of ten years of a return to democracy and multi-party systems."
It is for those reasons that coups d'etat have not disappeared from the political scene in Africa. Indeed, they have been on the rise again after a period of calm, when people relied on the repeated promises of leaders to respect the rights of man in all its forms. But in most cases, the changes in the way of governing have only been mere outward appearance. Besides the rigged elections, it is necessary to point to the increasing impoverishment of the masses, whose abject poverty contrasts starkly with the scandalous opulence of the political elite in government. And then there have been the scandalous acts of favouring members of the political party, personal interests, family members, tribe and even religion.
Patrice Bayeba N'gogo also writes: "It is very painful to see the hopes born of the abolition of one party systems and the sweeping away of dictatorial regimes, simply vanishing in a space of ten years. The enthusiasm raised by the ballot box has melted away like snow in the sun. And this is in no way a kind of liberal obscurantism. Hence, we repeat our call for the emergence of a new political class who are really free not only from western states, but also from servility to the older generation. That is the challenge of the 21st century."
N'gogo concludes: "The future of Africa is a matter of survival. It is a matter of life and death for 750 million people living in a continent which has become a powder keg. It is up to Africans and themselves alone to determine the destiny of the dark contine.
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