PRESS RELEASE: THE AFRICA GOVERNANCE REPORT (AGR) ON UNCONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES OF GOVERNMENT (UCG) IN AFRICA UNCOVERS GAPS AND SHORTCOMINGS THAT MAY FACILITATE PERPETUATION OF UCG
Nairobi, Kenya | 12 July 2023 – The APRM in collaboration with the Africa Governance Architecture (AGA) today launched its flagship report, The Africa Governance Report on Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa (The AGR 2023). The Africa Governance Report, AGR23, presents an analysis of the influences, causes, drivers and triggers of UCG in Africa. The analysis is identified by organs of the African Union (AU) and verified by an elaborate process of country targeted reviews. The targeted reviews focused on five themes of integrity of democratic elections, diversity management and human rights, constitutional order and state legitimacy, economic governance, and public sector accountability, and finally, popular uprising, militarisation and terrorism. The targeted reviews were conducted in the following countries the Kingdom of Lesotho, Republic of Chad, Republic of Guinea, Union of Comoros.
Four years after the adoption of the first AGR in 2019, the AGR on unconstitutional changes of government follows a decision by the AU Assembly during its 32nd Ordinary Session which affirms the APRM unwavering conviction that all kinds of unconstitutional changes of government undermine the gains realised so far by the AU in areas of good governance, democracy, peace, security and stability.
Speaking at the launch, APRM CEO Prof. Eddy Maloka said even though the African continent has largely maintained peace however, there is a concerning trend of resurgence towards UCGs in recent years which seemingly have been impelled by the breakdown in social, security and economic infrastructures thus compounding the existing weaknesses and faultiness for conflict.
On behalf of AGA Platform, Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and Representative of the Chairperson of the African Governance Platform, encouraged member states to reflect on the findings of the report and offered support towards the implementation of the recommendations. H.E. Musyimi-Ogana further alluded that the APRM in collaboration with the AGA Platform and Development Partners intend to provide technical support to the reviewed member states for the integration of the National Programmes of Action into National Development Plans.
The Report analysed the efficacy and efficiency between UN and AU sanctions regimes and noted the different approaches to implementation of decisions and the need for the AU to work in synergy with RECs sanctions regimes, and further encouraged the establishment of a model that reflects African realities.
Delivering the keynote, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Union of the Comoros, APRM Focal Point and Chairperson of the African Union Executive Council, H.E Mr Dhoihir Dhoulkamal commended the launch of the Report “as an important step, but we still have a lot to do, especially with regard to the implementation of the recommendations arising from this report.”
Addressing the launch, APRM Focal Point for the Republic of Sierra Leone, Chairperson of the APR Committee of Focal Points H.E Mohamed Foday Yumkella also called for greater solidarity and cooperation between African States to transform the recommendations into a concrete plan of action, in order to achieve the objectives of the AGR 2023. The Focal Chair further encouraged countries that have not yet joined the APRM to follow suite and accede “in this institution whose principles, objectives and missions are, in my opinion, the remedies for the various ills that afflict our continent.”
The Report also notes how i) UCGs proliferate on the geographical peripheries of states, ii) the predominant cross-border nature of UCGs that necessitate regional as well as multilateral responses, and iii) the human material and financial responses which sustain UCGs, which are often supplied from spaces which might not yet be overtly affected by the phenomenon.
The Report further highlights the evolution of normative frameworks on UCGs and provides compelling evidence of the relationship between UCGs and weak economic governance and poor public sector accountability through illicit financial flows, high rates of inflation, growing budget deficit and debt, persistent poverty, inequality, unemployment, pervasive corruption, lack of transparency and accountability of the civil service and poor public service delivery.
The Report also offers wide ranging set of recommendations and further encouraged the AU to strictly implement instruments that are already in place, namely the Constitutive Act, the Lomé Declaration, the PSC Protocol, African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, Ezulwini Framework for the Enhancement of the Implementation of Measures of the African Union in situations of Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa and to focus on preventive measures. To ensure an effective sanctions regime against unconstitutional changes of government.
The Launch today in Nairobi will be followed by others in the coming months.
The report and its executive summary are available at: https://aprm.au.int/en/documents/2023-07-12/africa-governance-report-20…
Follow the online conversation on Twitter by using the hashtags #AGR2023
