Military coups top AU summit as Senegal takes over chairmanship
Coups d’état have dominated the 35th Session of the African Union Summit as militaries, especially in West African countries, continue to oust elected Heads of State.
West Africa has seen a resurgence in military takeovers in the last two years and the trend cascaded to 2022 with the most recent coup being in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso on January 24 when the army deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore over his weak responses to violence by armed groups.
The coup in the Burkinabe capital came after a military takeover in Mali in September 2020 before the contagion spread to Guinea, where President Alpha Conde was toppled in September last year.
The AU Summit came days after the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, survived an attempted coup after assailants armed with machine guns and assault rifles attacked the government base.
Speaking during a press conference Sunday, AU Head of Peace and Security Council, Bankole Adeoye, said African leaders have “unequivocally” condemned the spate of unconstitutional power takeover from elected heads of state.
“Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally… the wave of unconstitutional changes of government,” Adeoye was quoted by AFP to have said.
So far, four AU member states have been suspended by the council since mid-2021 because of unconstitutional changes of government.
“Do your research: At no time in the history of the African Union have we had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, been suspended,” Adeoye emphasized.
Speaking to African foreign ministers ahead of the weekend summit, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU Commission, denounced a “worrying resurgence” of such putsches.
New Chairperson
Addressing representatives from member states in his acceptance speech, incoming AU Chairperson and President of Senegal, Macky Sall, raised concerns over the rampant government takeovers by the military.
“As our Union celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, we can be proud of the progress made under major initiatives such as NEPAD, PIDA, APRM, Vision 2063, institutional reform, the Great Green Wall, the AfCFTA and more recently our coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sall said.
“At the same time, our challenges remain numerous and pressing; notably in the areas of peace and security, the fight against terrorism, environmental protection, health and economic and social development. I do not forget the resurgence of the phenomenon of coups d’état which constitutes a major attack on democracy and institutional stability on the continent,” reiterated the AU new chairperson.
Mr Sall took over the baton of command from Felix- Antoine Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who has concluded his term as the Chairperson of the African Union for the year 2021.
The event took place on Saturday 5 February 2022 during the ongoing Thirty-Fifth (35th) Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held physically at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa under the theme: “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthening Agro-Food Systems, Health and Social Protection Systems for the Acceleration of the Human, Social and Economic Development”.
