Joe Ogini
Fear of the rising spate of coups in African countries especially the Francophone countries, has gripped most African heads of state causing them to take drastic measures in the governance of their people in a bid to avert coups and discourage their military from joining the fray.
Among those that have taken proactive measures to discourage coups is the Rwandan president, Paul Kegama, who has reshuffled the country’s military. Kegama has doubled the Commander-in-Chief of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and has retired about 95 military generals and senior officers as well as 930 junior soldiers.
This was disclosed in a statement published on the Rwanda Defence Force’s official website on Wednesday.
Other African countries are taking similar actions in a bid to kecure their positions amid recent military coups in Niger Republic with the latest in Gabon.
In Kegam’s words: Our history has been an example of how destructive division can be. We have also seen that it is our unity that has led to our country’s transformation. We have people who lost their family members, others who have family members who are perpetrators, everyone has suffered the consequencies of division.”
In Gabon coup leaders said Wednesday that General Brice Oligui Nguema would be sworn in as “transitional president” on Monday at the constitutional court, African leaders were working on a response to officers in Gabon who ousted President Ali Bongo and installed Nguema as head of state, even as Bola Tinubu of Nigeria and as the current head of ECOWAS is also seeking the intervention of the African Union’s (AU) response to the situation in Gabon.
Also, only recently, the Nigerian top Army brass warned aggrieved soldiers from toppling president Tinubu, charging them to ensure their absolute loyalty to the Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces.
The General Officer commanding, GOC,81 Division Nigerian Army(NA), General Mohammed Takuti Usman gave the warning on Wednesday, adding that the Nigerian Army will not condone any form of disloyalty.
He spoke as he addressed the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, Ogun state, stressing that their loyalty must be first to the president and then move down the ladder, to the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, down to the Brigade Commander.
Also in Cameroon, President Paul Biya also reshuffled the military, with new appointments as contained in a staement signed by president Biya, circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, written in French in the country’s official language.
The statement announced new appointments to the Controle Generale des Armees. The new controllers are Captain Ajeagah Njei Félix and Colonel Nguema Ondo Bertin Bourger.
Appointments were also made to the positions of Technical Advisers, Bureau Commissariat and Air Force Technical Inspector.
The overthrow of Niger’s civilian government on July 26, 2023, has raised some concern around West Africa where Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso have all been taken over by the military since 2020, with the latest being in Gabon.
