The French word coup d’état or simply coup as is prevalent in common usage is a sudden and forceful overthrow of a country’s political system either by military or civilian officials of the country under one pretext or another. The third world and underdeveloped countries are most prone to this malady.
The African countries with fragile political and economic setups more often suffer from coups.
Since the end of the Second World War and with the process of decolonization set in motion after this war, it is estimated that nearly 200 coups were carried out in this continent, the majority of whom were successful in overthrowing their target governments or political systems.
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1. The most notorious record in coups and resultant counter-coups is of Sudan with 17 coups of which six were successful.
2. Then there comes the number of Burundi with 11 coups triggered by Hutu and Tutsi ethnic tensions and resulting civil strife killing 800000 people, both Hutu and Tutsi.
3. Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone each of them faced 10 coups. 4. Comoros experienced 9 coups.
5. In Guinea Bissau, too, 9 times governments and political systems were toppled through these coup debates.
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6. Benin, Niger, Mali, and Nigeria, all of them have a record of 8 coups in their national political history.
7. Chad stands comparatively better in this line with 7 coups in its history!!!
In 2017 Robert Mugabe’s 40 years of rule in Zimbabwe was ended through a military takeover, though generals conducting this ouster refused to call it a coup.
The new toppling of governments in Niger on 26 July 2023, and Gabon’s President Ali Bongo’s ouster from the power corridor on 30 August 2023 are another example of military coups in the African continent.
This compelled the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2021 to say that the international and geopolitical haggling are fraying international cooperation and bolstering undemocratic and unconstitutional changes such as military takeovers with a sense of impunity among nations.