Professor Attributes Coups to Politicians’ Unfulfilled Promises
Professor Kwesi Aning, the Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, has asserted that coups d’état occur as a result of the failures of democratically elected politicians to fulfill their promises to citizens.
Prof. Aning stated, “Coups happen because democratically elected politicians have failed. That is the bottom line.”
In an interview on Opemsuo Radio’s Nkwantannanso with Kofi Boakye, he explained that making false promises during political campaigns is, in itself, a form of a coup against the nation. Prof. Aning further suggested that the military merely manifests this coup years later.
“Coups can happen, and the military will only show the gun after 2 years. Any intervention that doesn’t follow the law is a coup. For instance, if a president refuses to leave government when they lose an election, it is a coup,” he added.
He indicated that, on some occasions, people may express satisfaction during coups, not because they support the military, but because they detest the democratically elected government.
His comments were made in response to the ongoing discussions about the resurgence of military coups in Africa and the factors driving them.
One of the central figures in this conversation has been Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who strongly condemned the recurring military takeovers in Africa, asserting that military intervention is no longer a viable solution for the continent’s challenges.
“Let me make it categorically clear that regardless of the circumstances, I do not think that military intervention offers a solution at this point in the evolution of our Continent. There was a time when circumstances produced the notion that power flew out of the barrel of a gun. Those times are over and we face completely different circumstances now,” he stated at the St Andrews African Summit in Scotland on September 16.
Story by Adwoa S. Danso
