What Southern Africa can learn from West Africa about dealing with despots
Will the Southern Africa Development Community learn from Ecowas and become more interventionist, ask Chris Saunders and Henning Melber
Has the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) just taught the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) a lesson? The West African states effectively took a dictator to task after he refused to comply with the democratic will of the people to vacate office. By using diplomacy in combination with the threat of military force, they managed to convince the former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh to surrender power and leave the country. This was after he was defeated in an election. Why has the Southern African regional body been, in comparison, so ineffectual? Will it learn from Ecowas and become more interventionist? Many countries in Southern Africa have not had free and fair elections — Zimbabwe is the most obvious example. Where there have been cases of unconstitutional seizures of power, or leaders have stayed in office despite a lack of electoral support, there has been at best some form of Sadc mediation, but not the threat of military intervention. Such contrast...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.