Lessons and Questions from Coups in Africa (1)

Anthony Kila expresses great concern over the unconstitutional change of government that had taken place in nine African countries in the last three years.

Dear Readers,

The recent wave of coup d’états across the African region compels all of us to take time to reflect on the phenomenon, ask some questions and to learn some lessons about management of power and representation. 

I say all of us because in reality students of strategy and of observers of institutions have never stopped to ponder on the issues of acquisition of power, its management as well as affected interests and representations, it is citizens and some careless leaders that tend to go on sabbatical from these studies and reflections. 

Like some sort of viral infection, the latest development earlier this week in Gabon (on Tuesday 29th August, for the records) turned the list of countries that have witnessed military take overs into nine in the Sahel part of Africa in less than three years. 

On a personal note, just before the coup in Gabon, I got an invitation to speak on Coup d’état in Africa, from an international organization, we were till then focusing on the coups in Niger and other countries, and right after the Gabon military takeover, I got a rather, shall we say, interesting message from the organisers, that made me think that this is calamity presented with humour. 

The message read “with the recent events in Gabon, you have the opportunity to add more material to your intervention”. 

I am still thinking of what to reply as an African…

The first lesson for those on sabbatical is that there is a whole new generation across the world and even in Africa and Latin America that have neither ever witnessed a coup d’état, lived under a military regime nor even studied it. For such people and as a refresher for some us, it is useful to rediscover the definition of coup d’état, explore its causes and from such rediscovery identify how to avoid coup d’états. 

It is at this point pertinent to note that we also owe an explanation on why we think coup d’états should be avoided. You might not be one of them, but students of strategy as well as those of security in general know that unlike you, there are people who do not see coup d’états as absolutely and always bad. 

Allow me to go outside the usual definition and description of coup d’état, to simply and tersely describe a coup d’état as an “unlawful capture of power by a small group”. 

Yes, we are used to linking coup d’états to tanks and guns managed by people in uniforms, this meagre definition of a coup d’état as an unlawful capture of power by a small group allows us to conceive a coup d’état without guns and military uniforms. 

It shows us that without the sudden and violent intervention we easily notice and generally denounce, it is possible to have small group capture power without violence. How? They can do so by subverting the constitution and laws in it, by corrupting the democratic process and by deviating from the purpose and intention of democracy. 

The expression “small group” instead of “minority” is not casual in our lean definition of coup d’état. Contrary to what most generally think, democracy does make provision for the rule of the minority. 

What violates democracy is the unlawful capture of power. There is an obvious fact that we tend to ignore: When compared to the whole population, number of eligible and registered voters, it is always a minority that votes, hold and manage power for the rest of us and herein lies an essential and existential feature of democracy: lawfulness. 

As long as power is obtained through lawful means and it is managed within the limits and respect of the law it is not a coup. It however becomes a coup once power is captured or exercised outside the law. 

It is time to dispel another myth, contrary to what most people think and propagate, democracy itself is neither a guarantee of nor inherent with good government. 

There is a popular but flawed conception of democracy made in Nigeria called “dividends of democracy” and it makes people believe that democracy means good government measured by provisions of things like social infrastructures to all and even opportunities of prosperity for some. 

Such conception is an illusion created by elites and consumed by desperate masses. What democracy comes with and what it offers is good governance. 

Let us here remind ourselves the difference between government and governance. 

For the purpose of our reflections today, we must understand that government is entity and action whilst governance is process and record. What democracy comes with and what it offers is a system wherein all members of the democratic society are legally respected (in some cases protected) and some lawfully defined members of the democratic society are legally part of the decision-making and leadership selection process. 

The misconception of interchanging and confusing government with governance in democracy stem from the assumption that if the few that manage power are chosen by the most that vote then those in power will act in the interest of the most that voted. This rather naïve or at least simplistic assumption does not take into account or take little account of the fact that it is possible to have good government under a non-elected government. 

It is an assumption that ignores the possibility of people voting not based on their interests but in line with sentiments of affiliation such as ethnic and religious attachments. 

Once we detox ourselves of some misconceptions and we are able to see democracy as a means to (good) governance not government we shall then be able to see that what makes democracy worthy of defending is that it offers a process that comes with transparency and accountability. If you think that is little then I urge you to note that the four main causes of coup d’états are lack of governance that allows illegitimate or unresponsive government, lack of good government that allows rebellion to fester and viability of a coup d’état that enable illegal state capturers to successfully operate. 

Join me if you can on twitter @anthonykila to continue these conversations. 

-Kila is Institute Director at CIAPS. www.ciaps.org.