We all know that according to the English dictionary, a coup is a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government but based on the recent coups that have happened on the African continent a new definition of coup has been recently formulated. And we can call that Africa’s own definition of a coup. It goes as follows “A coup is an attempt by the military to save their countries from presidents’ “broken promises”. Doesn’t this completely encompass what Africans have been feeling concerning these coups? It truly does and we have none other than the interim president of Guinea, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya to thank for this eye-opener.
The President who also came into power through a coup in 2021, gave this new definition of a coup during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, on Thursday, September 21. Standing boldly before the gathering of world leaders and without mincing words, Colonel Mamadi told the leaders that beyond condemning the coups, global leaders must also “look to and address the deep-rooted causes.” He continued to say that a putschist is not only someone who takes up arms to overthrow a regime like the English dictionary tells us but the real putschists are people who avoid any condemnation, those who cheat to manipulate the text of the constitution to stay in power eternally.”
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Mamadi’s words bring to mind the President for Life that we have in Africa. They are African leaders who have overstayed their term in power but refused to leave and they even go further to manipulate the constitution to ensure that they continue to rule. But that’s not all, some of them even go as far as ensuring that their children continue in their stead whenever they choose to leave. Colonel Mamadi’s words mean that Cameroon President Paul Biya is a putschist, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang is a putschist as well as Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe. So, if they are truly concerned about coups in Africa they should do something about these Presidents for Life.
After hitting African Presidents for Life, Mamadi went on to give his reason why he organized a coup in Guinea. He stated that he led soldiers in Guinea to depose then-President Alpha Conde in the September 2021 coup to prevent the country from “slipping into complete chaos.” He then added that Guinea’s situation was the same in other countries hit by coups such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. And those coups were as a result of “broken promises, the lethargy of the people, and leaders tampering with constitutions with the sole concern of remaining in power to the detriment of collective well-being.”
Colonel Mamadi then went on to face the West. He told Western leaders that they should stop intervening in African Political challenges and added that Africans are “exhausted by the categorizations with which everyone wants to box us in.” In his own words “We Africans are insulted by the boxes, the categories which sometimes place us under the influence of the Americans, sometimes under that of the British, the French, the Chinese, and the Turks,” Honestly, we do not interfere in theirs so why should they? Why can’t they leave Africa alone
and let Africans deal with Africa’s problems? Indeed, true to Mamadi’s words, Africans are exhausted by the interference of the West in their affairs.
Like the President said, this exhaustion by the African people has made them to awaken more than ever before and they are determined to take their destiny into their own hands.” It is this reason why as the coups swept across West Africa it was followed by anti-french sentiments and protests demanding the withdrawal of France. It is also for this reason that some African presidents like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso, Julius Malema of South Africa, William Ruto of Kenya, and a couple of others are standing up and speaking boldly against the actions of the West during summits and gatherings of world leaders.
While Guinea’s president praised coups in his nation and elsewhere, questions remain about the efficiency of such military takeovers in fixing the problems that prompted them to “intervene.” While these questions are valid, attempts should also be made to bring to light the efforts made by the military junta to protect and develop their nations. For example, in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore has been making efforts to combat the terrorism problems and also to develop the country. If the West is truly interested in the problems of Africa, why don’t they put their hands together and work with these military juntas who seem to care for their nations instead of condemning the coup and refusing to recognize their government?
The fact is these military governments are here to stay and if the West continues with the same colonialist attitude towards Africa, anti-french sentiments would not be the only sentiment that will spread.
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