Empower youth to avert power grabs in Africa

General Brice Nguema was named the new leader after Gabon coup attempt. [AFP]

Africa's future is in its youth, who if not taken care of, will be the disaster. An example is 2010 Arab Spring that began in Tunisia in response to corruption and economic stagnation.

If African governments don't take care of its citizens, especially the youth, we will see more chaos. Arab Spring-like revolution comes in different dimensions. We saw what happened in Egypt in 2013 where 22 million signatures were collected to oust President Mohamed Morsi over authoritarianism and economic meltdown.

Recently, we have seen coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Niger and Gabon. In West African countries, youth are taking over power forcefully and the masses are celebrating. When the youth feel disfranchised, they become a bombshell.

In a recent engagement with Vera Songwe, former Head of United Nation's Economic Commission for Africa, I warned if leaders don't address the economic pain caused by Covid-19, there will be forced regime change.

In West Africa, the masses are celebrating when military takes over power. When you see citizens celebrating and wanting to be under military rule rather than civilian rule, there is a big problem.

In Gabon, the military has declared recent elections null and void and taken over the country. President Omar Bongo, his son and aides have been arrested. What is happening in West Africa should serve as a lesson to leaders in East Africa to watch out and start programmes to empower communities on the ground. When you look at the coups happening, they are led by young people.

Can we stop this? Yes! We can do this by sharing the national cake equally. If a youth knows he or she can go to school and get a job, if they see taxes being used well, then they have no reason to cause a revolution.

But if they see their leaders speaking loosely, they are forced to think of an alternative to protect their future and the nation. The only way a country can grow, is by creating jobs. If we create jobs, we will have a progressive Africa. But if few leaders care about amassing wealth for themselves, we are all going to lose.

Today, people are withdrawing their savings from Saccos. That tells you there is a problem. When people are not able to feed themselves, there is a real crisis.

Is what is happening in West Africa, a wave or are there socio-economic issues behind it?

But we can agree that the masses are feeling pinned down. That is why they celebrate when military rule takes over.

Who celebrates when a junta takes over a country? None! But the masses in these countries are saying we better be under the military than civilian rule that only serves a few people. They are saying, enough is enough!

It is a lesson for us who believe in democracy and the rule of law. These juntas felt the mood of the masses and found a loophole. Will we be better under the juntas? No. But we cannot be happy under a civilian rule that is enriching a few people.

-The writer is founder of Shofco and a member of USAid Advisory Board. Twitter @KennedyOdede