Stakeholders to launch regional dialogue initiative on coups in West Africa

Stakeholders have announced plans to launch a regional citizen’s dialogue programme (RCDP), an initiative for preventing and responding to unconstitutional changes of government in West Africa.

In an invitation letter to participants, Ayo Omatayo, director-general of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, said the RCDP would be launched on February 27 and 28 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

Omatayo said the programme is a collaborative effort of a consortium of civil society and research think tanks, with leadership drawn from the NIPSS, the Regional Centre for Governance and Security Policy Initiative (RCGSPI) based in Sierra Leone, and the Dantiye Centre for Good Leadership and Journalism (DCLJ) in Kano.

The professor said the initiative is supported by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) in Lisbon, Portugal, and is designed to mobilse and organise civil society contributions towards the prevention, mitigation, and response to coups in West Africa.

Omatayo said the coalition was concerned with the recent wave of military coups across the sub-region that threaten the future of democracy and political stability, amid persistent and growing economic hardship, poverty, and security crises induced by violent extremist organisations on the continent.

“The rationale for the RCDP is to complement and support the implementation of the main recommendations from African Governance Report 2023, which focused on UCG in Africa, published by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM),” Jonathan Sandy, RCGSPI chairperson, said.

“And build synergies with existing initiatives and ongoing efforts such as the AU ECOSOCC Annual Citizen’s Dialogue Forum and the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS).

“And for its implementation phase to serve as a platform for enhancing cooperation and complementarity between civil society organisations and ECOWAS institutional mechanisms in response to UCGs in West Africa.”

Agustin Nunez, senior programme manager for Africa at KAICIID, called for the inclusion of faith leaders as a fundamental part of the programme, owing to their influential positions in communities.

“Given the trust and access religious leaders have within their respective faith communities, engaging with religious leaders on a multi-faith basis and factoring their views and perspectives in interventions for peace and development, ensures the creation of more inclusive, stable and sustainably peaceful societies,” Nunez said.

There have been seven military coups in Africa in the last three years, with West Africa recording the highest number.

The recent postponement of elections in Senegal, and the dissolution of the government in Guinea by the military junta, have raised concerns over the state of democracy in the region.

The RCDP launch will hold at Reiz Hotel and participants are expected from civil society groups in West Africa and other parts of the continent, including representatives of regional agencies and institutions in Europe.

According to a statement issued by the stakeholders, the launch will also serve as a platform to present, finalise, and adopt the revised programme document and implement a comprehensive yearly work plan for the initial phase of the programme, spanning from February to September.