Governance, Constitutional Democracy, and Political Accountability in West Africa

West Africa’s political and democratic dynamics are being altered due to the recent military coup d’état and unconstitutional government changes. Many neighbouring countries are extremely concerned about the resurgence of military coups because it demonstrates that the sub-regions lack democracy, good governance, peace, and stability. The notion is that ‘diasporans’ of these countries are apparently backing and fueling the military upheavals and extremist groups due to the abysmal governance systems, high-level of corruption and inequalities. The idea is that the aforementioned variables are what have caused the cyclical political uncertainties in a number of the West African countries. The militia groups and in some cases the national armies in these countries have legitimatized the repeated political crisis in the name of poor governance, non-existence of democratic principles and corruption. Nonetheless, bad governance and corruption are multidimensional concepts encompassing political, economic, security and other societal threats and West African states have deficient capacities and systems to manage and mitigate these menaces judging from the recent political instabilities and military upheavals in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso. Moreover, in ethnically segregated countries as most of the countries within the sub-region, both legitimate and authoritarian regimes tend to face legitimacy crisis and partisan collusions. The widespread corruption and wastefulness of the political elites is occasionally motivated by ethnic competition with regards to the distribution of national resources. The chapter unravels the extent to which the economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights as enshrined in Africa and international human rights instruments have been undermined or promoted. The chapter concludes that, to break the recent cycle and ensure good governance and democracy, political, social and economic accountability and transparency must be guaranteed.