Benue State University, Makurdi

Tenure Elongation and Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Lessons from the 2021 Coup d’etat in Guinea

Musharafa Olapeju ROSENJE, Udochukwu Joel ONYEBUCHI and Oluwatobi Peter ADENIYI

Abstract

Unlike the practice in developed democracies, where the tenure of office specified by the constitution is upheld, leadership in African states has been characterised by manipulation in order to elongate its stay. This study investigated how tenure elongation has threatened democratic consolidation in African states, focusing on the lessons drawn from the 2021 coup d’état in Guinea. It adopted the descriptive method and made use of secondary data sources while rational choice theory was used as framework of analysis. It observed that African politics is characterised by sit-tight syndrome. Drawing examples from a handful of African states like Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe, the study identified selfish interests, corruption and power intoxication as the major factors encouraging tenure elongation. The study averred that the efforts of the opposition, the media, civil society organizations and non-state actors like the AU and ECOWAS in condemning and opposing tenure elongation have yielded limited results. The study concluded that sit-tight syndrome of Guinean leadership has adverse effect on the democratic consolidation in Guinea. The paper recommended that Guinean media advocacy should strongly be directed towards condemning tenure elongation; civil society organisations should organise several fora to enlighten Guinean citizenry on the dangers which tenure elongation portends for democratic consolidation; Guineans in the diaspora should lobby the international community to resist any Guinean leadership which attempts elongation of tenure of office; Also, non-state actors like the AU and the ECOWAS, and other world bodies should place stiff sanctions on Guinean leadership which violates such democratic constitutionalism.

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