Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, has condemned the wave of coups d’états threatening the subregion, but warned governments against dangerous lapses in governance.
According to him, while generally unpopular and devastating, coups thrive when the state is being badly governed.
“Try to live by your oath to the people because it is the underpinning of good governance,” he advised governments in West Africa.
The recent coup in Burkina Faso on January 24, 2022, which is the latest successful coup in the West African subregion, has renewed unease about coups returning and democracies dying in the region.\
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The recent attempt in Guinea-Bissau also brought back dark memories of the first decades after independence for most African states when coups were rampant.
Speaking to the VOA, Mr Kufour, whose tenure as President between 2000 and 2008 has been hailed as one of the best in Ghana since the Fourth Republic, said when incumbent governments try to "play smart", they shoot themselves in the foot.
“If you think the period is too short, use the constitutional means to convince the people to amend the constitution or reform the constitution to lengthen tenure a bit but please don’t play smart and on the eve when you should be stepping down, you say there’s a third term. You do that and you push people into feeling they too can take things into their own hands and do what they mustn’t do,” he advised.
He said military takeovers have always been bad for any state.
“Coup is not an experience I will recommend for any generation,” he said.
“I wouldn’t advise anybody to hail a coup d’état. It comes from faceless people you don’t know, who haven’t given anything to keep for you or to manage for you, and they may not even be competent enough to do anything. And if they come, they use an opportunity and come to impose themselves on you and destroy your life. Is this what anybody should want?” he quizzed.