Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati has attributed the elections-related military coups in Africa to a lack of observers to oversee the exercise.
In a tweet on Monday, Kenya’s former electoral commission boss said the coups witnessed in Africa disrupt democratic gains.
“In most of these elections, Observers were excluded from the electoral process. Election observers are necessary as they contribute towards transparency & accountability of an election outcome,” he wrote in a tweet.
Chebukati’s sentiments follow a military coup in Gabon, which was declared hours after Ali Bongo Ondimba was announced winner of the president elections.
On Wednesday, he Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) said Bongo garnered 64.27% of the vote while his main challenger Michel Stephane Bonda got 30.77% votes.
Army officers would later appear on TV to say they had taken power and annulled the results of Saturday’s election which Bonda’s faction claimed was fraudulent.
The army said Gen Brice Oligui Nguema, the head of the presidential guard would take charge.
Gabon’s coup came nearly a month after a similar incident in Niger, where the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and their commander General Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself the leader of a new military junta.
The coup has attracted condemnation from France, the US, African Union and across the globe. President William Ruto has called for calm in the nation offering Kenya’s help in resolving the conflict.
On January 23, 2022, Burkina Faso’s military base was also seized by the military under Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba’s command.
President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was reported to have been detained and the military announced that Kaboré had been deposed as president.
Kenya’s neighbouring nation Sudan, on October 25, 2021 had a state of emergency after army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had at least five state officials captured and confined in undisclosed locations.
Another coup was witnessed in Africa on September 6, 2021 when the Guinean armed forces abducted 83-year-old President Alpha Condé.
Guinea special forces commander Mamady Doumbouya released a broadcast announcing the dissolution of the constitution and government.
Before then, a two military coups were witnessed in Mali in August 2020 and May 2021.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was removed from power by a group of military officers followed by months of unrest over irregularities in parliamentary elections.
In 2021, the coup began when the Malian Army led by Vice President Assimi Goïta captured President Bah N’daw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Minister of Defence Souleymane Doucouré.
N’daw and Ouane were stripped of their powers.
On April 20, 2021, Chadian President Idriss Déby was killed by a military rebel group initiated by a Chadian rebel group, putting an end to his 30-year rule.
