Thread: A look at the coups across West and Central Africa

Gabon is the latest African country to be facing a coup d'état, with military officials there claiming to have toppled the government and placed the president under house arrest just hours after election results were announced.
The group of senior Gabon military officers took to national television on Wednesday evening to say they had taken power and election results were annulled after President Ali Bongo was declared to have won a third term.
If successful, the coup would represent the eighth one since 2020 in West and Central Africa, a region that in the past decade had made strides to shed its reputation as a "coup belt", only for persistent insecurity and corruption to open the door to military leaders.
While the West has largely been reticent to get involved in the power struggles of African nations, Russia and its mercenary forces have been more than willing to meddle.
Here is a list of some recent coups and political unrest:
Niger — July 2023




In July 2023, members of Niger's presidential guard
detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace and appeared on national television saying they were seizing power to end the "deteriorating security situation and bad governance".
Days later, the junta declared the head of the presidential guard, Abdourahamane Tiani, the new head of state, raising concerns about the security of a region where Niger has been a key ally of Western powers seeking to contain insurgencies by groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.
The main West African bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) has been trying to negotiate with the coup leaders but says it is ready to send troops into Niger to restore constitutional order if diplomatic efforts fail.
Niger has authorised Mali and Burkina Faso's armed forces to intervene on its territory in the case of an attack.
Burkina Faso — January 2022

In January 2022, Burkina Faso's army ousted president Roch Kaboré, blaming him for failing to contain violence by Islamist militants.
Coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba pledged to restore security, but attacks worsened, eroding morale in the armed forces that led to a second coup in September 2022 when current junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power.
Guinea — September 2021

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The Guinea military announces it has ousted the country's long-serving leader and dissolved the country's constitution.In September 2021, special forces commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya ousted president Alpha Condé.
A year earlier, Mr Condé had changed the constitution to circumvent limits that would have prevented him from standing for a third term, triggering widespread rioting.
Colonel Doumbouya became interim president and promised a transition to democratic elections within three years.
ECOWAS rejected the time line and imposed sanctions on junta members and their relatives, including freezing their bank accounts.
The military regime later proposed to start the 24-month transition in January 2023, but opposition parties say it has done little to put in place institutions and a road map to return to constitutional rule.
Chad — April 2021




In April 2021, Chad's army took power after president Idriss Déby
was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting rebels in the north.
Under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have become president.
But a military council stepped in and dissolved parliament in the name of ensuring stability.
Mr Déby's son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby, was named interim president and tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to elections.
The unconstitutional transfer of power led to riots in the capital N'Djamena that were put down by the military.
Mali — August 2020




In August 2020, a group of Malian colonels led by Assimi Goita
ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
The coup followed anti-government protests over deteriorating security, contested legislative elections and allegations of corruption.
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Under pressure from Mali's West African neighbours, the junta agreed to cede power to a civilian-led interim government tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to democratic elections to be held in February 2022.
But the coup leaders clashed with the interim president, retired Colonel Bah Ndaw, and engineered a second coup in May 2021.
Colonel Goita, who had served as interim vice-president, was elevated to the presidency.
ECOWAS lifted some of the sanctions on Mali after the military rulers proposed a two-year transition to democracy and published a new electoral law.
The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in February 2024 to return to constitutional rule.
Sudan — October 2021




The north-east African nation is in the midst of a civil war after a power-sharing agreement between the country's military wing, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke down in April and deadly fighting started in the streets of the capital Khartoum.
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The violence followed days of tension between the quasi-government militia RSF and the country's official army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, with the dispute mostly surrounding plans for a transition to democracy.
Sudan has been governed by a "Sovereign Council" of military generals since a coup in 2021.
The RSF — which is under the command of the council's vice-president, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti — accused the army of sparking the conflict by attacking its forces first at one of its bases in southern Khartoum.
Since April the fighting has spiralled out of control, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians in the capital and other major cities

https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2023-09-...ined/102797750

Ahhh you went on a coup safari