Address by the President of the Republic of Ghana and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Govenment,

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,

at the Reflection Forum on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, Organised by the AU Department of Political Affairs, Peace And Security

15^TH MARCH 2022, ACCRA, GHANA

I am happy to be participating in this Forum, which is being held in our capital city of Accra. We are pleased that the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) has chosen Ghana to host this important forum, whose outcome will be considered at the Extraordinary Summit of the AU to be held in Malabo, in May this year. Indeed, we believe Ghana’s strong democratic credentials, including the conduct of eight (8) general elections, five (5) presidential transitions, and three (3) peaceful transfers of power from one party to another through the ballot box, in the twenty-nine (29) year period of the 4^th Republic, have enabled the holding of this Forum to take place in Accra.

Those of you who come from beyond our shores are welcome amongst a people who pride themselves on their sense of hospitality. Akwaaba is our word of welcome, and I hope you enjoy your stay with us.

This Forum offers a platform to engage in deliberations on a disturbing development on the continent – unconstitutional changes in governments in Africa. The significant interest in this Forum is an indication of the unequivocal, unwavering commitment to constitutionalism and the rule of law, and the outright rejection of all forms and manifestations of unconstitutional changes in governments in Africa, as well as of the manipulation of national constitutions.

Our unity and resolve should send a clear message to coup plotters that coups have never been, and will never be durable solutions to Africa’s political, economic and security challenges. Statements condemning coups alone without corresponding action will, however, achieve little or nothing, as witnessed in recent times. This problem requires collective agreement, effective deterrence, bold action and, equally important, adequate preventive measures.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has taken us a long time for a consensus to emerge in our country, Ghana, and, indeed, in Africa, that the democratic form of governance is preferable. We have certainly come a long way, but we should not take it for granted that everybody has accepted democracy as the preferred mode of governance. There are those who hanker after authoritarian, personal rule, because they claim Africa is underdeveloped and democracy is cumbersome, and we need to get things done in a hurry. There are those who seek short-cuts to office to exercise power without limits, and there are those who have no respect for the free choices of our sovereign people, because they do not accord with their so-called ideological preferences. We still have some work to do to convince such people that we are all safer under democracies.

According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, eighteen (18) African leaders have either modified or eliminated constitutional term limits in the past two decades.  In addition, another eight (8) resisted efforts to institute term limits, bringing the number of countries lacking constitutional restraints on political power to twenty-four (24). This represents almost half of the number of countries on the continent.

In contrast, the same source notes that twenty-one (21) countries upheld term limits, and fifteen (15) now have them in their constitutions. The average time officeholders have been in power in the twenty-one (21) countries that have respected term limits is four (4) years.

In most of the situations, where incumbents have not respected term limits, they have argued that the basis for hanging on to power is in response to popular pressure by their people to remain in office, and that term limits have no meaning in poor and underdeveloped societies where uplifting citizens is of the highest priority. Others also believe that leaders should remain in office if they continue winning elections.

However, the electoral processes that have been used to set term limit extensions or removals in Africa have often been marred by allegations of widespread irregularities. Ruling parties that ply this route usually enjoy near-total control of most, if not all, the levels of government and the electoral machinery.

Consequently, African peoples have paid a steep price for efforts by leaders to circumvent constitutional term limits. Upwards of ninety percent (90%) of the 24 countries that either lack term limits or circumvented them experienced varying levels of civil unrest and political instability, including coups d’états.  The continent’s democratic progress is threatened by such events. 

According to the 2019 Annual Risk of Coup Report, Africa has experienced more coup d’états than any other continent, an unsavoury statistic.  Also, thirty percent (30%) of all coup attempts on the continent have occurred in democracies.

As current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States, I have witnessed directly the devastating effects that coups d’états and attempted coups have had on the region. There have been at least three such occurrences in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, and an unsuccessful attempt in Guinea Bissau. As some of you may know, the AU and other Regional Economic Communities (RECs), such as ECOWAS, have identified a myriad of factors underpinning unconstitutional changes of government. Among them are, according to the AU Peace and Security Council, “deficiencies in governance, political greed, mismanagement of diversity, failure to seize opportunities, marginalization, human rights violations, unwillingness to accept electoral defeat, manipulation of constitutions and their revision through unconstitutional means to serve personal narrow interests” and so on.

Even more worrying, the expression of social discontent by the citizenry, against these factors, usually through protests, has often been met with varying degrees of repression, co-option, violence and further consolidation of the status quo. Is this the “Africa We Want?

The reappearance of coups in Africa in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned by all, since it seriously undermines our collective bid to rid the continent of the menace of instability and unconstitutional changes in government, as currently defined by the frameworks enshrined in the Lomé Declaration, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and other important regional and continental instruments. Unconstitutional regime changes retard a country’s growth.

As much as the drivers are largely domestic, Excellencies, the international dimension cannot be overlooked. Foreign involvement in fomenting unconstitutional changes, often in favour of repressive governments, foreign economic interests and other would-be geo-political benefits, are contributory factors.

Some foreign entities regard coups in African countries as a means of enhancing their regional ambitions. As such, they engage in all sorts of disinformation campaigns in a bid to disparage the authority of democratically elected governments and instigate opposition protests against incumbents.

In implementing existing continental and regional instruments and protocols, defaulting Member States are condemned and suspended from the activities of continental and regional bodies, and individual coup-makers are sanctioned. However, the reality is, these sanctions have not been applied uniformly. While we are quick to sanction military coup leaders, civilians, who achieve similar ends via the manipulation of constitutions to remain in power, for example, go without sanctions, although their actions are clearly prohibited in our legal instruments. This means that the existing frameworks need to be strengthened to capture such infractions.

Indeed, the African Union and its precursor body, the Organisation of African Unity, cognizant of the negative implications of unconstitutional changes of government on the overall continental security governance process, adopted several measures in response to the phenomenon, as contained in continental normative frameworks, such as the Lomé Declaration of 2000, the AU Constitutive Act, the African Governance Architecture, July 2000 Solemn Declaration of the Conference on Security, Stability, Cooperation and Development (CSSDCA) and its July 2002 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and various instruments adopted within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s  Development (NEPAD), including the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

It is good to note that this Forum will, inter alia, discuss and reflect on these normative frameworks, with the aim of identifying gaps and loopholes to make them more adaptable and responsive to the contemporary governance, peace, and security challenges of the continent

With the array of governance and security experts gathered here today to deliberate on the issue, with the view to contextualizing the root causes and formulating appropriate responses, I have no doubt that this Forum will live up to expectations. We should be guided by the principle of fair and equal application of our rules.  I am looking forward to receiving the outcome Accra Declaration document, including key recommendations on the way forward.

Ladies and gentlemen, we do not have to look far back into history to see that a stable period of constitutional government and intelligent management of the economy leads to prosperity. I believe in Africa’s immense potential for greatness. I believe that stable democracies in Africa can help unleash energies of the African peoples to inspire the transformation of the continent. This can be Africa’s century. We can claim it if we believe in ourselves and in our peoples.

Accordingly, ladies and gentlemen, I declare the AU Peace and Security Council Forum on Unconstitutional Changes of Government duly open.

May God bless Mother Africa and us all.

I thank you for your kind attention.