West Africa Faces Looming Military Threat As Democracy Falters, WADEMOS Warns

The West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) has issued a stark warning that the region is on the verge of further military intervention, fuelled by a deteriorating democratic situation.

This warning was issued following WADEMOS’s 3rd Annual Regional Convening in Accra, Ghana, at which participants from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region discussed the state of democracy and the bloc’s challenges.

The conference, titled “Leveraging Solidarity Movement in Defence of Democracy across West Africa: Challenges, Lessons Learnt, and Perspectives,” emphasised a troubling trend of democratic backsliding in several West African countries.

Participants expressed deep concern about several governments’ actions, describing them as direct threats to regional stability.

Multiple Countries on the Brink:
WADEMOS has specifically condemned the actions of several governments:

Togo: President Faure Gnassingbe’s recent constitutional changes, which allow him to circumvent term limits, have been condemned as a “constitutional coup” that violates the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.

Guinea-Bissau: President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s increasingly authoritarian rule, including the unconstitutional dissolution of parliament in December 2023, undermines democratic norms and raises serious concerns about the country’s future governance.

Guinea Conakry: The country’s democratic transition has been hampered by ongoing political instability since the coup in 2021, as well as repeated election postponements. The junta’s latest postponement of elections from December 2024 to 2025 has heightened concerns.

The Gambia: The absence of constitutional reform and clearly defined presidential term limits is causing uncertainty ahead of the 2026 presidential elections.

Côte d’Ivoire: President Alassane Ouattara’s decision to seek a fourth term, despite earlier promises not to, has heightened tensions and raised concerns about the prospects for peace and stability in the run-up to the 2025 elections.

The network stated that Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger’s withdrawal from ECOWAS has exacerbated the region’s fragility.

WADEMOS chastised ECOWAS, once a champion of regional democratisation, for facing internal challenges that jeopardise its cohesion.

To address these issues, the organisation urged ECOWAS to implement urgent structural and institutional reform.

The conference concluded with several resolutions emphasising the importance of:

A commitment to peaceful power transfers.

Increased government accountability and adherence to the rule of law.

Addressing the decline of civic space, particularly in the Sahel, as well as countering foreign interference and disinformation campaigns.

Addressing the decreasing funding available to civil society organisations.

WADEMOS’ urgent warning emphasises the critical need for immediate action to prevent further democratic deterioration and the possibility of widespread military intervention in West Africa.

The organization’s call for regional solidarity and reform is an important step towards ensuring the future of democracy in the region.