A study published by independent research network Afrobarometer found that 56 percent of Africans aged 18 to 35 support a military takeover when elected leaders abuse their power.
Young Africans have a higher tolerance for military regimes than those aged 55 and older, 47 percent of whom accept military dictatorship.
60 percent of young people are also dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their countries, while 40 percent believe that democratically elected leaders are corrupt and incompetent.
In the recent coups in Mali, Burkina FasoGuinea, NigerGabon – and also in the case of earlier in TunisiaChad and Sudan – civilian leaders were accused of corruption and mismanagement of the economy. The putschists, according to research by the Afrobarometer network, referred directly to what the youth demanded from civilian governments – eliminating the terrorist threat, unemployment and poverty – according to a report presented by Afrobarometer.
READ ALSO: A blow to democracy on the continent. Military dictatorship now stretches from east to west
Military coup in Gabon, August 2023PAP/EPA
The Age of Putschists
The relatively young age of the coup plotters played a role in the support and acceptance of the coups. The African countries that have undergone coups in the past four years are ruled by the youngest leaders on the continent: 36-year-old Ibrahim Traore from Burkina Faso, 39-year-old Mahamat Deby from Chad, 41-year-old Assimi Goita from Mali and 44-year-old Mamady Doumbouya from Guinea.
Only three other African leaders are under 50, but they were democratically elected. They are Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, 44, who was elected earlier this year; Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopiawho is 47 years old, and 49-year-old Andry Rajoelina from Madagascar.
They promised to return power to civilian governments, they never did.
Africa's longest-serving heads of state came to power in coups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Like their younger counterparts who came to power more recently in coups, they promised to return power to civilian rule but never did.
The list is topped by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power for 43 years. The oldest politician to rule in Africa and the world is Cameroon's President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country authoritarian since 1982. Although he is 91, he has no intention of giving up power. By blocking the opposition from fielding its own candidate in next year's presidential elections, he has already secured another term.
Main image source: PAP/EPA