Role of the Military in Africa

A military coup generally refers to the sudden overthrow of a government by the military. A coup in some people's eyes can be a good thing. To some it saves the government from its certain destruction and saves the nation. Most people don't see coups this way though! A more common way of looking a coup is a sudden change that brings about a whole different government or form of government that is most likely feared. Coups were extremely common during the Cold War era and still continue to have a place in African today. Today, with the hope of more Democratic societies, military coups are very much frowned upon.

Africa is trying to place political charge over top of military charge. They have tried to do this and the African Union has a well defined stand on the issue and has created policy about it. However, military regimes do still exist today and the unconstitutional takeover of governments is still attempted. Of course one wonders why a military coup would try to take over the government. There are many possible reasons why governments have been and will be taken over. Some of these reasons include: greed, the instability of the government, naivety, ignorance, or interventions of other countries in which people are not happy about. Many times military coups have risen right after the Independence of nation was declared. At times like these there may not have been a clear leader and the military rose to be that leader.

For more information see Coups and Coup Attempt in Africa

Here Are Nations That Have Undergone Coups and May Still Be Under Military Control:

Nigeria

Nigeria was once a colony of Great Britain. It declared its independence in 1960. Nigeria now had the difficult job of unifying over 250 ethnic groups. In 1966, military leaders ceased control after rioting had been prevalent. Most of those that ceased power were of Ibo descent. Later that year, a second military coup seized power! Takubu Gowon was the leader that took charge this time and he had a nine-year rule. This ended however when a new military coup came into power led by Muritala Rafai Muhammed the ruler. This was a very vicious and brutal coup. It seemed things were finally looking up when civilians were able to have an election and take control again. The elected leader was Alhaji Shehu Shagari. At this time there was an oil boom, which boosted the nations economy. However, by 1984, the military once again seized power. Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida ceased power the following year in another military coup and claimed that there would be a presidential election in 1993 but he ended up disregarding the results. He did resign though and another military coup run by the defense minister Sani Abacha seized. Under his rule, Nigeria faced a tough time and they dropped to the position of the 13th poorest nation. After Abacha died of a heart attack in 1998, another military leader by the name of Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, took power. Abubakar allowed for a democratic race to be held and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo won. The country had high hopes for Obasanjo, but he didn't do much for the nation. He was re-elected in 2003. Since this, Nigeria has been a democratic country. It is a shaky democratic country, however.

Here's more information on Nigeria.

Congo

Congo, formally known as Belgian Congo, also went under military coup. The military coup was staged by head of state Joseph Kasavubu in 1960. It was staged during a time of civil war in Congo between Joseph Kasavubu and Patrice Lumumba both of the National Governemnt. He then turned Lumumba to Katangan forces and he was killed eventually assassinated. Along with the help of the President of Katanga, Moise Tshombe, he ruled until he was replaced by Gen. Joseph-Desiré Mobutu who pushed him out of power in 1965. Under his rule he changed the countries name to Zaire and placed a strict set of rules on the country. In 1997, Mobutu was overthrown in a guerilla campaign by Laurent Kabila. Mobutu had actually been one of the U.S.'s projects during the Cold War. During Kabila's rule, Zaire's name was changed back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although Kabila replaced one of the worst dictators, Mobutu, he himself did not see to know what he wanted to do with the country. Some of his old allies gained support and seized part of the Congo land. Other countries such as Zimbabwe did come to Kabila's aid, however, and they were able to reach an agreement so that the Lusaka Accord was signed. In 2001, Kabila died and his son took over. His son seemed eager to end the Civil War. Much instability followed, however. Congo's first democratic elections took place in 2006 and after some fighting, Kabila was named the President in the first free election since 1970.

Here's more information on the Democratic Rebpublic of Congo.

Somalia

Somalia was created by Britain and Italy when they declared that their sectors (each part of present day Somalia) be independent to form Somalia in 1960. Their President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated in 1969 and the army took over under the command of Mohamed Siad Barre who was a fan of the USSR. Somalia backed a bunch of rebels from Ethiopia and entered into a conflict with Ethiopia in 1977. The outcome wasn't favorable for Somalia and Barre left the country. He left it, however, to no one in particular and it fell into the hands of guerilla groups that didn't get along. Somalia soon faced a bad drought and the country plunged into famine. The U.S. was called in to help and the UN eventually took over. The warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid had other plans to debunk this help though and attacked UN troops as well as American troops. Since 1991, many different warlords and militias have claimed to own certain pieces of Somalia. One, the Somaliland Republic has even declared independence. In 2000, a government was set up but it was only able to gain control of 10% of Somalia. In 2004, a transitional government of 250 people was set up. A president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, was selected but for the most part they didn't even stay in the country because of the violence and dangerous environment. This new government soon faced an uprising of the Somali Islamic Courts Council, which eventually took control of the capitol. Ethiopia helped Somalia eventually regain the capitol. Ethiopia continues to support the central government of Somalia to this day. The U.S. has also recently this year, conducted air strikes on Somalia which, were aimed at suspected Al-Qaeda group members.

Here's more information on Somalia.

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