Coups: Why the hypocrisy?
The army detained Mr Yala on Sunday and announced it was taking over. The UN, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and several governments condemned the coup. But they were unable to bring pressure on the army to restore Mr Yala to the presidency.
However, when on July 16 soldiers overthrew President Fradigue de Menezes of the tiny island state of Sao Tome and Principe, just off the West African coast, intense international pressure forced the military to back down. At that point, many observers declared that the era of coups in Africa was over. Now, it seems, that verdict was premature.
It turns out, however, that Mr Menezes was restored to power only because Sao Tome is oil-rich and and he had only just returned from a visit to the US, where he was feted and praised by President George Bush.
The military was forced to hand back power because the world’s most powerful states felt they couldn’t trust Sao Tome’s oil wealth to an army.
Bissau, on the other hand, is dirt poor and has not discovered any strategic minerals. The stakes are low, so the world doesn’t care much who rules there.
There are useful lessons in this for both Ecowas and the African Union. If their condemnation of undemocratic seizures of power are to have any moral force, then they must be principled and consistent. Every military coup, therefore, should be met with the same level of criticism.
Second, action to restore democracy must be credible, whether a country is rich or poor. However, since intervening with force to remove or restore a government is fraught with its own risks, Ecowas and the AU should invest more in preventive action.
Mr Yala was a disaster as president. Yet his peers didn't lean on him to clean up his act. Pressure should be brought on his ilk while they are in power to take actions that remove the temptation for armies to take over. This is the cheaper and more honest option.
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