Events unfolding in West Africa should not be viewed as a demise of democracy but a failure of the civilian government to provide essential services to the public.
General Rose Lopez Keravuori, Director of Intelligence at the U.S Africa Command (Africom) was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a two-day Africa Chiefs of Defence Conference held this week in Gaborone.
Over 30 African countries represented by top commanders attended the conference, Nato representatives as well as a top US general attended. President Mokgweetsi Masisi and Africom Commander, General Michael Langley officiated at the event.
“I think the general population is done with having insecure and unstable politics,” she said.
Three West African countries – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – are currently under military rule and appear to enjoy domestic support as the public openly cheers the junta leadership. General Keravuori stated that this is because, whenever an elected government fails to provide essential services and curb the radicalisation of certain groups, the military sometimes sees itself as the solution.
“So the military sees itself as the only mechanism that can stop that. Either that it has specific training and they feel best equipped.”
But she warns that such scenarios should not be interpreted as a demise of democratic values. She said the military is filling a vacuum left by the civilian government but knows that it is not better equipped to run a government.
“Any military member knows that when you run a battalion or a brigade, it is very very different from running a country,” she said.
“We don’t learn about economic policy in the military training. They understand they are good at finding solutions to one problem but not good at other things like economic policies, bringing development in areas because those are essential services people need.”
As one of the most senior Africom commanders, General Keravuori told journalists that Africom’s mission is to counter threats and work with the civilian government to bring solutions. The meeting was the first one on African soil. The meeting is under the auspices of the US-Africa Command (Africom), with the mission to encourage new and greater collaboration on security and stability.
