Hanging on to power at all costs in Africa

by planetparker

The problems of legitimacy still continue to plague Africa’s rulers. There are those who are able to claim the mandate of election but who go on to squander the goodwill invested in them by their electorates by pursuing gradually more oppressive policies, accompanied by corruption that enriches their cronies at the expense of the  population. Some of those who are elected are already elderly, yet in spite their growing senility they wish to hold onto power indefinitely, as if by doing so they can defy morality. Africa has always fallen victim to the men with guns. The army of the various states have seldom needed an excuse until recently to seize power, sometimes presenting themselves as national savours charged with undoing the errors of civilian politicians. In time the trappings and perks of power go to their head, and their rule becomes no more than a bloody and cruel kleptocracy. Although no fan of military government it must be said that some of Africa’s best rulers have stemmed from the armies’ ranks.

 I have written recently about the worrying spectre of armed groups in Guinea seeking to overturn the will of the people by attacking the home of the man whom they had elected president, Alpha Conde. A

Niger's president Issoufou

 similarly sinister development has been uncovered in the land-locked and impoverished state of Niger, where a group of middle-ranking officers have been arrested on foot of an attempt to assassinate the recently elected president, Mahamat Issoufou who has used his power to pursue and stamp out corruption within the military – an activity which has won him few friends among the officer corp. It is not unusual amongst the armies of many African states to grow rich by pocketing money intended as salaries for more junior officers and soldiers.

 Keeping it in the family.

Wade

When Abdouilaye Wade was elected president of Senegal in 2000 many saw it as a sign of how the country’s democracy had matured. Wade was a long-time opponent of the (admittedly well-educated) clique who had ruled the country since independence. He was no street-savvy firebrand, but a French-educated lawyer with two PhDs who was fluent in French, English and numerous African languages. He came to the international stage in 2002 for all the right reasons, not because his country had been hit by devastating natural disasters but because his country had not only qualified for that year’s world cup, but had beaten many stronger European teams. A beaming President Wade appeared on television screens around the world holding aloft a football.

 Wade is unfortunately old. He claims to be 85 but even he is unsure. As his time in power has started to drag rumours of corruption have increased. The inevitable popular discontent has been met by repression. Wade had wanted to hand over power to his son Karim, and many believed that he was prepared to use both fair and foul means to bring this about. Riots erupted and the president was compelled to deny any such intention. Plan B was then put into action; Wade would run for a third term in the 2012 president elections, something that was unconstitutional. Once again popular outrage was met by the imposition of a ban on political protests in the capital Dakar and a wave of arrests that have included the popular singer Thiat. While the clampdown is benign by the standards of some rulers, it does seem to augur badly for the country that was starting to generate goodwill for pursuing policies that placed it outside the general tenor of a headlong rush to disaster and national misery.