When President Alhassane Ouatarra of Ivory Coast decided to change the constitution of the French speaking country to enable him contest for a third term, The Chronicle used this column to draw the attention of the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the fact he was gradually dragging his country into the abyss.
Unfortunately, ECOWAS did not see the need to intervene, thinking that it was an internal matter that should not attract their attention. But, in the end, hundreds of Ivoriens were slaughtered in the election that maintained Ouatarra in power. Credible information indicates that Ivory Coast is today a divided country, and any little spark could result in another civil war.
As Africans struggle to deal with the Ivory Coast situation, another one is also emerging or has emerged in Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African nation for well over three-and-a-half decades, is refusing to step down. He is perpetuating himself in power through what can be described as sham elections.
Museveni does not allow dissenting views and is doing everything possible to silence the opposition. In the just-ended presidential election, where he has been declared winner of the polls, one of the African’s longest serving presidents did not only disconnect internet services, but actually descended heavily on the main opposition leader, Bobi Wine. The latter was frustrated throughout his campaign by the military and the police, including unreasonable arrests and detentions.
As if this was not enough, the musician-turned-politician was prevented from leaving his own house when the vote counting was ongoing. His private residence was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, who claimed to be protecting him. The big question is, how can the military claim to be protecting the opposition leader when his movement was being restricted and, therefore, being prevented from monitoring the elections?
To rub salt into injury, foreign observers who would have somehow policed and ensured free and fair elections were also prevented from entering Uganda. In the end, there were no foreign observers to monitor the elections. Despite all these intimidating tactics, the Electoral Commission of Uganda has come out to declare Yoweri Museni winner of the election. The electoral body also claims the election was free and fair.
It is an undeniable fact that most of the civil wars that have emerged in Africa were a result of autocratic rule and failure to organise free and fair elections. Nobody can convince The Chronicle that African leaders are not aware of this major problem confronting the continent, yet they have all kept quiet because most of them believe in the stance adopted by some of their colleagues.
In our view, it time the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) stopped advancing loans and grants to African countries that are not observing proper democratic tenets. It is our firm belief that if this measure is put in place by the Bretton Woods Institutions, it would tighten the hands of these dictators masquerading as constitutional leaders in Africa, and compel them to review their stance.
African is the richest continent, yet it is the poorest region in the world, because of the behaviour of her leaders. Their only interest is to steal from the impoverished people and stash the money away in foreign banks for them and their families to enjoy.
Pursuant to this goal, they will do everything possible to maintain themselves in power. The Chronicle, therefore, expects the IMF and World Bank to use their lending to these nations as a weapon or coercive power to force these greedy African leaders to respect the will of their people.
The post Editorial: Work Bank, IMF should use lending as coercive power to force good governance in Africa appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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