How effective are the Sanctions Enacted by African Regional Organisations against Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa?

16^th February 2022, 3:00PM -4:30PM (GMT+1) via Zoom (Register Now)

1. Background

Unconstitutional changes of government remain a concern among African regional Organisations. Despite the adoption of several norms repressing such undemocratic breakdowns of constitutional order, the African continent has in recent times continued to be plagued by several coups. The recent coups in Sudan, Mali, Guinea, Chad and Burkina Faso indicate the challenges faced by the African Union and the regional economic communities in promoting and entrenching the culture of democratic governance in Africa. In response to each coup d’état, these organisations react by adopting sanctions such as the condemnation and immediate suspension of the country concerned from the organisation. Also, more stringent and targeted sanctions, such as border closures, recall of ambassadors and freeze government assets, may be imposed at a later stage, depending on the cooperation of the ruling military during the transition period. The recent sanctions imposed by ECOWAS on Mali are quite illustrative of this. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these sanctions remains questionable in the context of a restoration of constitutional order.

2. Objectives

The objective of this public dialogue is to question the effectiveness of sanctions enacted by African regional organisations against countries experiencing unconstitutional changes. Specifically, this dialogue seeks to question the appropriateness and proportionality of these sanctions, analyse the possible influence of external actors and discuss the consequent impact of these sanctions on the lives of the population. Finally, the aim is to make recommendations on how regional organisations can prevent, or at least find an adequate solution to unconstitutional changes in Africa.

3. Participants

This public dialogue is organised by the Governance and Democracy Division of the Nkafu Policy Institute. It is open to the general public without restriction.

4. Panelists

• Niagale Bagayoko,

Ph.D in Political Science, President of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN)

• Ornella Moderan,

Head of the Sahel Programme, Institute for Security Studies (ISS Africa)

• Jean-François Akandji Kombé,

Professor of Public Law, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

• Madi Ibrahim Kanté,

Ph.D in Political Science, Research Fellow at the Timbuktu Institute      

Moderator:

• Steve Tametong, Ph.D, Nkafu Policy Institute 

5. Contact

 For more information, please write to us at [email protected] or contact Tel:: (+237) 22 31 15 84 / 654 86 72 54