GREED ; THE AFRICAN PROBLEM

There have been rumours that there is mutiny in the military government of Burkina Faso which is led by Captain Ibrahim Traore.

This is not news to us and the world since it was expected to happen.
Before we delve much into that, let's detour into the history of coups since the 1950s.

There have been 486 attempted coups since the 1950s with 214 taking place in Africa.
Out of the 214 attempts, 106 have been successful. Forty-five countries in Africa have experienced coup attempts with some countries like Nigeria and Burundi suffering the most.

A country like Burundi has witnessed two presidential assassinations with a lot of bloodshed.
Nigeria was worse under Sani Abacha and Muhammad Buhari.
The likes of Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone have not been left behind.

In my home country Kenya, we've seen one major coup attempt which failed though ushered in historical social injustices.

Now, the problem with all military rule is that they tend to lose focus on what made them overthrow the government.
In 2017, Robert Mugabe was put under house arrest by the military to usher in new rule but the country is now in a bad place compared to where they were before.

In 1992, Captain Valentine Strasser became the military head of Sierra Leone aged just 25. He was the youngest head of state at that time. Many civilians praised his rule at the beginning but jealousy and greed led by his deputy made him be overthrown and he fled to exile.
In 1987, Thomas Sankara was also betrayed by his closest friend who also acted as the deputy President at the time. After his famous speech " who feeds you, controls you" he was brutally murdered and buried in a mass grave while Blaise Compaore took charge of the country for close to three decades.
He was later sentenced in absentia after he went into hiding in the neighbouring Ivory Coast.
Once again, greed denied Africa one of the finest rulers at the time.
The changes he brought are Similar to what Captain Traore is doing.

Gabon was also never left behind. They underwent a coup to take power from the Bongo family which had ruled since 1969.

Niger and Mali are also under the same military rule and we don't know how long will this last.

DRC is a country that has lost close to six million people since the year 1994.
Mobutu Sese Seko was a ruler who rose to the top seat through a coup and was later removed through a military coup led by Laurent Kabila, who was later assassinated by his junta but was replaced by his son Joseph Kabila.
In May this year, the current president was almost killed by troops led by Christian Silanga.

From the few examples, we can deduce that military rule is always short-lived.

In all the coups, the constant factor is the interference from Western powers.
Belgium has always been interfering with the internal affairs of DRC since the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

In West Africa, France has always been blamed for justifiable reasons.
They still want to colonize these states by use of currency.
Whatever is happening in Burkina Faso has a lot to do with the foreign powers.

IMF and World Bank are what ails African leaders, they take big loans with interests with a promise of being loyal to them.
Even the Gen Z uprising that is happening in Kenya is due to taxation which is a result of Western interference and crude laws made by the IMF and World Bank.

Kenya needs to be independent and be non-aligned to some movements that disrupt peace.
President Ruto should learn from what happened to Jonas Savimbi of Angola.
They will use him and dump him later. He should keep his distance from Meg Whitman and all the NATO members.
As a lover of history, I know that all  revolutions and coups have always been led by the young generation.
He should not ignore the cries of the young people before it's too late. Let him learn from the West African countries.

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