{"id":59319,"date":"2025-07-20T20:05:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T20:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-military-coups-to-elections-in-african-democracy"},"modified":"2025-07-20T20:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T20:37:16","slug":"from-military-coups-to-elections-in-african-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-military-coups-to-elections-in-african-democracy","title":{"rendered":"From Military Coups to Elections in African Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Democracy is universal – and African: this is the premise of Senegalese journalist Ousmane Ndiaye’s book \u201cAfrica against democracy: myths, denial, dangers\u201d.<\/p>\n

The text, released in French on 10 July, retraces the current crisis of democracy in numerous African countries, where, according to the journalist and former editor-in-chief of French TV channel TV5 Monde’s Africa desk, leaders are embracing a rhetoric that overtly and officially “rejects democracy”.<\/p>\n

Not only military regimes<\/b><\/p>\n

One facet of the problem is what Ndiaye calls the “khaki danger”, the numerous military regimes that have come to power or ensured they stay in power in recent years.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, nine military coups have been successful, with most taking place in West Africa and in particular the “Sahelian coup belt”, as some analysts term it.<\/p>\n

Assimi Goita, initally transitional leader of Mali, earlier this month signed into law a change to the presidential term that would allow him to stay in power without having been elected until at least 2030 – and likely beyond.<\/p>\n

His counterparts in neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso are also former coup leaders clad in uniform – and on their way to cement their grip on power.<\/p>\n

But Ndiaye warns: it is not only generals and colonels who reject democracy, citing for instance the dubious argument of counter-terrorism or an unstable security situation.<\/p>\n

“Take someone like Kai\u0308s Sai\u0308d in Tunisia. He was democratically elected and nevertheless, his rhetoric casts doubts over democracy in the name of being against the system,” says Ndiaye.<\/p>\n

Democracy as a colonial product<\/b><\/p>\n

Democracy is a Western concept: this is the notion that needs to be rejected immediately, says the author.<\/p>\n

“In many places in Africa, there were forms of democracy that preceded the colonial era”, he says.<\/p>\n

The brutality of the colonial systems in many ways destroyed these egalitarian forms of governance and societal organisation, and led to an imposition of a Western and artifical way of democratising countries in the post-colonial period.<\/p>\n

“Until now, what did we get in Africa? Democratisation processes coming from above or from outside. This is what I call a process of democratic evangelisation, which doesn’t work,” Ndiaye points out.<\/p>\n

With his book, Ndiaye seeks to “re-universalise” democracy and shows that, although the way forward is lined with dangers – propaganda, repression of popular protest, an obsession with the West that is counterproductive to advancing the fight for democracy – there is hope: the joint force of citizens seeking freedom and equality.<\/p>\n

Source: Africanews<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Democracy is universal – and African: this is the premise of Senegalese journalist Ousmane Ndiaye’s book \u201cAfrica against democracy: myths, denial, dangers\u201d. The text, released in French on 10 July, retraces the current crisis of democracy in numerous African countries, where, according to the journalist and former editor-in-chief of French TV channel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":59318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[6239,2783,963,5415,6237,6238,245],"class_list":["post-59319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-alliance-of-sahel-states","tag-corruption","tag-democracy","tag-drc-rwanda-tensions","tag-electoral-crisis-in-kenya","tag-gabon-coup","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Military Coups to Elections in African Democracy - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Democracy is universal - and African: this is the premise of Senegalese journalist Ousmane Ndiaye's book \u201cAfrica against ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/from-military-coups-to-elections-in-african-democracy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Military Coups to Elections in African Democracy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democracy is universal - 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