Is democracy in danger in Africa? This is the question that many people have been asking since the resurgence of coups in Africa. We thought this epidemic was reserved for West Africa, but Gabon has just joined the club. And the argument that we use to refuse to recognize some of the laced people who recently took power is that they overthrew democratically elected Presidents. Democratically elected? Really ?
I believe that the real question that we must ask ourselves is whether what was practiced in these countries where the coups took place can be called democracy. And if this is the case, what has this democracy brought to the populations? If we answer these questions correctly, we could know where the next coups will take place without much risk of being mistaken. I believe that in our countries, especially in French-speaking Africa, democracy has been reduced to the simple election that we qualify as democratic, whatever the conditions in which it took place. And once this so-called democratic election has been acquired, the way in which the so-called democratic power that results from it is exercised no longer matters. As long as this democratically elected President does not disturb certain interests and does not cross certain limits in human rights abuses, all is forgiven. “We don’t look into the mouth of the peanut roaster,” said a great sage of our continent. Thus, Ali Bongo Ondimba had just been democratically proclaimed re-elected when he was overthrown a few minutes later. Had he not already been elected just as democratically twice? No one was fooled, but we were all hypocrites. This time it didn't happen, and surprisingly few people, including himself, are pushing for his return to power. Would he have understood that he had pushed the envelope a little too far, given his state of health? Or rather, did he understand that he was being used, that someone was taking advantage of his weakness as some had done in Algeria with President Bouteflika? Today everyone seems to discover the enormity of the prevarications of the Bongo clan. The Gabonese have known this for a long time and are not unaware of the state in which their country, which could have been the equal of the Gulf emirates, was.
I believe that democracy, or rather the word democracy, is one of the many ways that some have found to monopolize power, without bringing anything to the populations. What do they ask for? That we improve their living conditions, not just for the benefit of a single clan, that they live in relative security, that we build their countries, that their States are not their enemies through all kinds of bullying, frustrations and deprivations, through all the rackets they suffer from civil servants or law enforcement agents, that they can express themselves without running the risk of ending up in prison or, worse, in cemetery...Ultimately, when all this is assured to them, the populations care little about the way in which the powers are established. Isn't this what explains why populations cheer putschists about whom they know absolutely nothing, but about whom they at least know that they have just swept away a hated power, even if it was "democratically" elected?
When a coup d'Etat occurs, one of the first things demanded of the new power is that it organize democratic elections as quickly as possible. And there is enormous pressure on him to do so. This requirement is well-founded, because we cannot accept just any individual taking power with the weapons that the people have entrusted to them to ensure their security. But it cannot be enough to prevent future coups. The aspiration of all people is to be led by people they have chosen and in whom they recognize themselves through all kinds of mechanisms. But above all their main aspirations are those that we listed above, namely, to see their country built so that their living conditions improve, so that they live in security.
We would all benefit from getting away from hypocrisies and starting to build real democratic systems or real development policies that really take into account the real desires of the populations.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
