Are democratic governments in Africa abusing their constitutional power and authority which threatens our democracy?

A patriot does not hold back a matter of importance that will benefit the state, but they give voice to it no matter how it may cause some people to vilify them.

When we put a coup d'état regime in parallel with some bad democratic governance, we shall realize that both political systems are the same. Even in some instances, the bad democratic practice is worse.

Coups are normally staged by a group of people who are mostly soldiers.

No constitution in the world legalizes a coup d'état. Likewise, coup makers usually abolish state constitutions and run a country the way they deem it fit.

Military governments reigned in many African countries in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. But in the nineties and the years ahead, many military rulers abandoned military rule and they opted for a constitutional government instead.

Recent political developments in the francophone countries in Africa, regarding coups, indicate that African countries are gradually moving back to embracing military governments again.

Military governments emerge suddenly and rule by decree or under martial law.

There are certain negative aspects of a military regime that make the citizenry frown upon a military government. Treating civilians with brute force and operating kangaroo courts are some of the minuses that make civilians despise such a regime.

Flight lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings has described the bad treatment some soldiers meted out to civilians during his erstwhile military regimes as, 'excesses of the revolution'. He then, presumably, apologized for that misconduct.

The constitution of Ghana detests any form of overthrowing the constitution. As law-abiding citizens of this country, we also uphold and defend the Constitution.

Moving on to a democracy, we can simply describe a democratic government as a legitimate government that is created by the people.

A democratic government or a constitutional government must govern under the rule of law which is enshrined in the constitution.

Democracy must be governance-friendly where incumbent governments treat every citizen, in all walks of life, fairly.

Because of the legitimacy surrounding a democratically elected government, the international community recognizes only such a government and it extends every form of assistance to it.

A democratic government, inter alia, can seek financial support from donor countries or take loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and other financial institutions whereas a coup regime can never have any of these privileges or support.

Unfortunately, even though democratic governments enjoy all these benefits, some of our democratic leaders abuse their office by rigging elections to continue to stay in power. Sometimes when their tenure of office is finished, they pass on the baton to their political parties through the same illegal means to continue to rule.

Rigging of elections is tantamount to illegality which is akin to subversion of the constitution.

Some of the democracies some African leaders are practicing today are embedded in authoritarianism or dictatorship.

They manipulate state institutions to serve their parochial interest.

How can we believe an incumbent leader when he and his party henchmen boastfully declared that after upcoming general elections, they are going to hand over power to their political party and they shall never hand it over to the opposition?

These kinds of misguided statements may be recipes for disaster against our democracy. For me, any sitting officeholder who makes such pronouncements must be impeached. It does not augur well for people in power to be acting irresponsibly. They disguised themselves behind democracy, as true democrats, and operated above the law.

When these unpleasant statements are made and people complain, those who make them and their supporters say anyone who is not comfortable with the way the country is being run must wait until election time to vote against them.

How can we vote against the government and win when the government is bent on winning elections by hook or by crook?

I have only confined this topic to the rigging of elections. If I should also discuss other abuses in democratic governance, it would prolong the discussion.

When incumbent governments make democracy fail to give solace to the people or when political leaders make democracy metamorphose into their property, they help coup makers to emerge in the political arena.

We must all do our best to protect the Constitution, but those who can protect the Constitution the most are incumbent governments.

Lord Acton is right when he says in the famous phrase, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Let us therefore not alienate only coups in our quest for stabilizing democracy and allow tyrannical leaders to abuse the constitution and operate freely!