Fighting unconstitutional changes of government or merely politicking? A critical analysis of the African Union response

Abstract

The transfer of power to African leaders, at the end of the colonial era gave birth to authoritarian regimes. African Nationalist leaders liberated the continent from the chains of colonialism and bound it in the stone walls of authoritarianism and dictatorship. This is because Africa inherited institutions that were meant to be oppressive of the colonised peoples. These institutions had no room for political pluralism, public participation, free speech, a free press, and free movement among other fundamental rights and freedoms that allow for democratic governance to flourish. Without undergoing major transformations, African governments remained a product of their colonial heritage naturally becoming totalitarian, oppressive and undemocratic.