Burkina Faso coup: ECOWAS, AU sanctions not serving as sufficient deterrent - Okudzeto Ablakwa

Coup declared in Burkina Faso

New wave of coup d'états is deeply frightening, Okudzeto Ablakwa

Okudzeto Ablakwa calls for development as a measure against spread of coup d'états

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called for an address to what he says is the crisis of confidence in democracy in the West African Sub-region.

According to Okudzeto

Read full article.Ablakwa, current evidence suggests that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union have not been able to manage the spread of military coup d'états through sanctions.

“From Mali, Guinea, and now Burkina Faso — the new wave of coup d'états is deeply frightening and marks a deleterious setback. We can only hope West Africa is not experiencing a domino effect. As democrats, we surely condemn coups of this nature.

“It seems, however, from the evidence so far, that ECOWAS and AU sanctions are not serving as sufficient deterrence neither do they appear to be the solution to military adventurism,” he wrote in a Facebook post reacting to the overthrow of the government in Burkina Faso by a military junta.

Calling on African leaders to see to the development of their people, Mr Ablakwa noted that an improvement in the quality of life for citizens is the only viable measure against the coups which he notes has received mass support in the countries that have experienced such.

“The only viable way forward, particularly taking into consideration the mass popular support that greets these military interventions, is to urgently address the current crisis of confidence in democracy.

“African leaders have no option but to change paradigm and exhibit transformational vision so the African people who can no longer wait, can begin to reap the democratic dividend of improved quality of life, decent jobs, opportunities, stability, industrialization, investment in social services, incorruptibility of public officials and expansion of the democratic space,” he added.

Burkina Faso has become the latest state in the West African Sub-region to be taken from democratic leadership into a military regime.

A military overthrow of the government led by Christian Roch March Kabore was staged on Monday, January 24, 2022, by members of the armed forces.

The junta led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo, a Lieutenant of Colonel of the Army announced the overthrow of the government and the suspension of the nation’s constitution after taking the now former president captive.

The ECOWAS and the AU are yet to officially comment on the development in Burkina Faso.



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