Political killings and coups d’état are not a new phenomenon in Africa. Way before the infamous term Scramble for Africa was coined between the 19th and 20th century, the continent was already going through a series of political killings and coups d’état, particularly due to the issue of chieftaincy.
In 1816 the famous Zulu king Shaka organised a coup d’état against his half-brother Sigujana, which not only led to loss of his life during the coup but also extinguished his descendants from ever ascending to the Zulu throne. This is just one of the coups that transpired on the continent before the Scramble of Africa.
Fast-forward to 2021, one would have hoped the issue of coups d’état and political killings would be a thing of the past, considering there are no more monarchs, well except for Eswatini, as democratic processes are now undertaken to discern who governs and who bites the dust.
Just this year alone, the continent has witnessed two successful coups d’état with Mamady Doumbouya, Guinea’s army commander, who is now the President at the forefront of overthrowing President Alpha Condé who first took office in December 2010, becoming the first democratically elected President in the country’s history. The second was conducted by Mali’s Colonel. Assimi Goïta, who is also now the President after he ruthlessly removed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
To better understand why the continent is still being marred by political killings and coups d’état, I interviewed Chad Thomas, a criminal expert based in South Africa and CEO of Independent Financial and Organised Crime Investigation company and IRS Forensic.
“I am often asked why we continuously witness political killings on the African continent. This comes down to a lot of factors, some might say tribalism, irredentism or just the fact that some political parties are marred by infighting. Because a number of political assassinations are carried out by members of the same political party and this is because those elected officials have control over public funds. So what we have realised is that a lot of political assassinations are in fact not politically linked. We are now seeing specifically that political killings are meant to eliminate competition in elections so that the person that gets appointed can be able to assist in the plundering of the public purse.
“Another interesting dynamic on the African continent is the fact that we continue to witness coups d’état and it seems unusual in this digital woke age that something as brutal as a coup d’état can still exist and can still occur but, once again, one must put into consideration why these coups d’état exist. We see civil wars as a result of people wanting to gain control of different regions of countries, specifically when one looks at the situation in Congo where borders divide countries like Tanzania, Uganda and there are a lot of natural resources such as coltan and others that have an immense value on the open market. So when it comes to coups d’état, they happen for two specific reasons: firstly, to depose a dictator who has probably been in power for a very long time and imposed his will on the people and, secondly, coups d’état are now funded by outside actors who have a very notorious agenda and that is to take control of that country’s natural resources,” said the criminal expert.
In addition, Thomas further explained how the continent can rid itself of political killings and the extent to which regional bodies have assisted in decreasing political killings and coups d’état.
“It is a very difficult answer to make and it is a debate we can have for days on end. One must understand that the borders we see in Africa are still colonial borders, so you have a people who have a line through a country, yet on either sides of that line are people who have the same heritage, legacy, culture and in most instances the same language and they want to come together. So, in some instances, you need to understand that people want to overcome these colonial borders they want to come together. To rid our continent of coups d’état and political killings, we need to identify the reasons behind it and the majority of these reasons are financially related. One must understand that this is the most mineral-rich continent so many foreign players have come into the mix and supported various factions for their own reasons they want access to those minerals. As Africans we need to take control of our minerals, we need to partake control of how those minerals are developed and manufactured rather than just being exploited and until Africa as a whole realises that it is only we who can solve our problems then perhaps we can see a change in all of this.
“Moreover, Africa has many organisations that have been brought together in treaties and other ways in fighting the scourge of terrorism and coups d’état we have the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). SADC right now is at the forefront of fighting Islamist extremists in Mozambique and this is a well-funded, well-resourced campaign to try and rid off the region from terrorists. One must bear in mind that the AU, SADC and ECOWAS play a pivotal role in maintaining peace on the continent in places like South Sudan, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and now of course in Mozambique. But one must realise that this is not strictly just a defence mechanism, you cannot just rely on the military. When it comes to social unrest, civil wars, coups d’état and political assassinations one must also understand that these are criminal activities that are taking place within a broader context of being a political shift because, as I mentioned, there is a fight to control the mineral resources that are available to be exploited in these particular countries and there are a lot of foreign players that come in to try and influence this,” added Chad.
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