Desperate African leaders desecrating democracy

BY JOHN KOKOME

Across the African continent, democracy is under siege, not always from tanks on the streets, but from the very leaders sworn to protect it. The greatest threat today is not the dramatic overthrow of governments, but the quiet, calculated desecration of democratic norms by desperate incumbents clinging to power. This erosion is subtle enough to escape international outrage yet destructive enough to hollow out institutions, weaken accountability, and endanger the future of governance across the region.

In recent years, Africa has witnessed a wave of constitutional tinkering designed to elongate presidential tenures. Leaders who once campaigned on promises of reform now orchestrate legal acrobatics to reset term limits, alter electoral calendars, or introduce ambiguous constitutional clauses that concentrate power in the executive. What should be a solemn constitutional process has become a personal survival strategy, a way to buy immunity, wealth, and political relevance at the expense of national stability.

These manoeuvres are often cloaked in the language of “national interest,” “continuity,” or “stability,” but the outcomes betray the intent. Instead of strengthening institutions, leaders weaken courts, capture electoral bodies, muzzle parliament, silence dissent, and deploy state resources for partisan advantage. Opposition voices are routinely harassed, arrested, or exiled. Civil society is labelled as foreign-sponsored. Journalists become targets. The state becomes a political weapon.

Nowhere is the desperation more visible than in the manipulation of elections. The process meant to reflect the will of the people is turned into a theatre of state-sponsored distortions. Voter registers are tampered with; security agencies become enforcers for ruling parties; vote buying is industrialised; and results management, the final gateway of democratic integrity, is compromised through opaque collation processes. Citizens participate enthusiastically, believing in the power of their vote, only to watch the numbers morph into pre-arranged outcomes that defy logic.

Equally troubling is the growing alliance between failing leaders and military actors. While Africa has long struggled with coups, a more dangerous hybrid is emerging: quasi-civilian governments with covert or overt military backing. These leaders are protected not by legitimacy but by coercive force. This creates a vicious cycle where militarised politics become normalised, and civilian rule loses its meaning.

But the desecration of democracy does not happen overnight; it accelerates when citizens lose trust in institutions and disengage from civic life. When poverty levels are high, unemployment is widespread, and governance failures are persistent, it becomes easier for incumbents to manipulate public sentiment. Leaders exploit economic anxiety to frame themselves as the only safeguard against chaos, creating a false binary: “It’s either me or collapse.” This narrative, repeated often enough, becomes a dangerous myth that justifies authoritarian drift.

However, the blame does not lie solely with the political class. African democracy is vulnerable in part because the continent’s institutions remain fragile. Courts that should be independent are easily intimidated or compromised. Parliaments meant to act as a check and balance on the executive become rubber stamps. Electoral bodies, arguably the most important institutions in modern democracies, often lack the operational autonomy to resist state interference. Without strong institutions, even well-intentioned leaders are tempted to abuse power.

The international community’s response has been inconsistent at best. Western nations, once vocal about democratic standards, now prioritise security cooperation, migration control, and economic access over governance reforms. Strategic interests often overshadow democratic principles, leaving African citizens feeling abandoned. Meanwhile, geopolitical actors like China and Russia offer alternative partnerships devoid of democratic expectations, giving authoritarian-leaning leaders the perfect excuse to dismiss Western concerns as “neocolonial lectures.”

Yet, the future is not entirely bleak. Across Africa, young people are awakening politically. From Senegal to Kenya, Nigeria to Zambia, youth movements are pushing back against authoritarianism, demanding transparency, accountability, and generational renewal. Social media has become a powerful tool for organising, exposing misconduct, and amplifying dissenting voices. Although governments continue to introduce draconian regulations to control digital spaces, the momentum of youth activism remains difficult to suppress.

To salvage democracy on the continent, African citizens must reject the normalisation of desperation politics. Term limits must be protected and enforced. Electoral commissions must be insulated from executive interference. Judicial independence must be treated as non-negotiable. And most critically, citizens must resist the temptation to trade freedom for short-term economic promises.

African leaders often speak of building strong nations, but history is clear: no nation can be strong when its democracy is weak. Leaders who dismantle democratic norms for personal gain are not stabilising their countries; they are mortgaging their future. They may succeed temporarily, but the long-term consequences are: political unrest, weakened institutions, economic decline, and eventual illegitimacy becomes inevitable.

The recent happenings in Uganda, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, and Rwanda clearly show the desperation in some African leaders who have outlasted generations, manipulating laws and silencing dissent. The coup in Guinea-Bissau happened to be the ninth coup in West and Central Africa in five years, and has become a consistent pattern of instability within the region. This ugly trend must be tamed before it’s too late.

Africa deserves leaders who view power not as an entitlement but as a responsibility. Leaders who understand that democracy is not an inconvenience but a covenant. Leaders who build institutions, not empires. Until then, citizens must remain vigilant, for the greatest danger to African democracy is not coups or crises, but the slow, deliberate desecration by leaders who fear losing power more than they value their people.

John Kokome, a communications strategist and public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos. He can be contacted via [email protected]