Coups In Africa Are Still A Constant Subject
On 19th December 2018, the then President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir, who lead the country with fierce iron arms for 30 years in power, saw massive protests take over the country pursuing a change the country didn’t live for a long time: democracy and economic stabilization.
Al-Bashir rose to power after leading a bloodless military coup d’état with support from the National Islamic Front (NIF) against Sadiq al-Mahdi government, initiating a period of intense persecution of oppositionists, corruption, economic backsliding, starvation, mass incarceration, killings, massacres, war crimes and inumerous human rights violations. Also with the support from Iran, the new government instituted the Sharia law, alongside large arms purchases from China and former Soviet republics.
2011 was a particular defeat for al-Bashir goverment. After the end of the long-running Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005), one of the longest civil wars to date, marked by the dispute between Sudanese Armed Forces and the former Sudan People’s Liberation Army (which would turn into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces), the country underwent a strong famine and diseases diffusion, beside two million deaths and four million people displaced in southern Sudan for at least once. The war was marked by war crimes, human rights violations, slavery and mass killings. Six years after the stalemate created by the end of the war, South Sudan gained its independence following a national referendum from 5th to 11th January 2011. Hence Sudan lost some of their main oil reserves, and the country started to suffer shortage of foreign currency and have a 70% inflation, leading to the government’s decision to triple the price of goods in 2018.
This was the time when President al-Bashir felt the people’s bitter revolt. A united coalition by opposition groups was formed after al-Bashir refused to step down from power, and the government retaliated arresting more than 800 oppositionists and killing around 40 people. The demonstrations and the riots continued through Sudan, and al-Bashir imposed a state of emergency, dissolving central and regional governments, forming a new one, and postponing constitutional amendments that would allow him to run for another term in 2020, without cancelling his candidacy. After a military coup d’état that resulted in al-Bashir’s arrest, the new head of state and former defence minister of al-Bashir Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf resigned from power and transfered it to general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The protesters then organized a sit-in in various regions across the country. On 3rd June 2019, the city of Khartoum experienced one of the worst massacres in Africa. After a sit-in protest, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) used heavy gunfire and teargas to disperse the demonstrators, killing over 128, injuring more than 650 and raping 70 people. After the massacre, Sudan was suspended from the African Union.
The military felt harshly the boycotts and suspensions after Khartoum, leading to an agreement with civil leaders to form a new Draft Constitutional Declaration which would allow a transition to democracy until 2024. A Sovereignty Council of Sudan was created between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), to serve as a head of state for a 39-month transitional period. The appointed Prime Minister was the former Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Abdalla Hamdok.
Hamdok was viewed as a diplomatic alternative for the transition to democracy. The Prime Minister was praised for his previous works and one of his first measures was to appoint four women to his cabinet of ministers (although the Sudanese Women’s Council demanded an equal share of 50–50 with men at all levels).
Soon as Hamdok assumed office, he initiated talks with the IMF to stabilize the economy, due to food, fuel and hard currency shortages. Another measure took by the PM was to dismiss chancellors and vice-chancellors from Sudanese universities connected to al-Bashir’s government and appoint new ones.
But the political instability and hate continued to rule over Sudan. Hamdok suffered an assassination attempt in Khartoum, where a car explosion targeted the PM and his motorcade. This was just one of the many signs that Sudanese politics were going through a clash of interests, though Sudan was in a democratic transitional period.
On 25th October 2021, the military, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, arrested Hamdok and other government figures in a coup d’état. On 21st November, Hamdok was reinstated as Prime Minister and a political agreement to restore the civilian rule was signed by Abdel Fattah. But according to reliable sources, Hamdok was threatened to sign the agreement. After a deadly protest where two people were killed on 2nd January 2022, Abdalla Hamdok resigned and al-Burhan took full control of the country.
The coup in Sudan could have brought international concern and attention, but it was limited to some reactions and responses from some countries around the world, with the United States and the United Kingdom condemning the coup and countries like China and Russia asking for moderation. But the situation in Sudan was later completely normalized by foreign perception because of the idea that the African continent is always misconducted and surrounded by everlasting sequences of coups. And this idea is not completely wrong.
Since January 2021, Africa went through 9 coups d’état or coups attempt. Central African Republic, Mali, Chad, Tunisia, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau suffered this harm. It’s the continent with the most figures in the world by far. But what explains the effortless and constant downfall of democracy in a poor part of the world while others even with similar issues don’t live with the same problem?
The fact is: coups in Africa have been shrinking since the decolonization, but have been on the rise in recent years. This can be explained by three factors.
The first one are the poor institutions throughout African countries, and the military coup in Sudan helps to explain it. Although the country was experiencing a transitional period to democracy, political instability never left the country. Hamdok suffered an assassination attempt and the power was always with the military, which rules over the Transitional Sovereignty Council with al-Burhan. The judiciary is commanded by the Sharia law and the Supreme Court has a lot of influence from the executive branch. After the two protesters were shot in Khartoum, the Sovereign Council dismissed the first female Chief Justice, Neimat Abdullah Khair.
Since the decolonization, Sudan and its African counterparts never had a long period of stability with full democratization. After the colonizers left Africa, because of violent revolutions or peaceful independences, disputes over power came out between different influence groups, and most of the disputes regarding who would lead these countries were more violent than the independences themselves. Long civil wars began throughout the continent and dictators came out to power to rule for decades, weakening institutions and capturing them. This is the reason why Sudan couldn’t resist two more coup attempts and why even the consolidated democracy of Tunisia suffered a self-coup by President Kais Saied.
The second factor is the mistrust of the public in elections and on the government itself. As democracy was slightly penetrating some countries in Africa, little has changed about poverty and corruption. A survey conducted by the Afro Barometer between 2014 and 2015 showed that the satisfaction with democracy in the countries which the surveyed considered the country a democracy decreased in most of the countries in relation to the same survey conducted between 2011 and 2013. In countries like Madagascar, the amount of the surveyed who considered themselves as “very satisfied” with the democracy they perceive in the country is of just 2%.
This is one of the reasons for the support of many in military actions and takeovers. It is not unusual to find Africans who prefer military governments than democratic elected ones, because they view the incubment government as illegitimate and therefore do not protest against the military coups.
The third factor that explains the recent takeovers is the normalization of the so-called “third term-ism”. With many African countries going through their firsts executive elections in decades or ever, some leaders have disrespected the constitution when it imposes a two-term government, creating dubious amendments by which they could run for a third or more terms.
Historically, Africa is the continent where there have been countries with a certain tradition for coups and coup attempts. Sudan, since 1952, has experienced 17. The tiny nation of Burundi passed through 11 coups. Ghana and Sierra Leone, 10 each.
To dismiss more military takeovers or institutional coups, the continent needs urgent international help and deep political reforms. Fighting poverty and rampant corruption is a critical measure to reassure trust in institutions and secure the confidence of the public in democracy. The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have democratic mechanisms to pressure countries that disrespect electoral process or face takeovers. Showing how fair elections and good governance can lead to public participation in politics and a change of scenario is decisive to restrain military power and concetration of power in the hands of few. Africa has already suffered and up to date continues to suffer with its ghosts from the past.
