Inside Story

Will military coups roll back democracy in West Africa?

Burkina Faso’s military leader was deposed on Friday in the second coup this year.

Burkina Faso has now witnessed two military coups in nine months.

Leader Paul-Henri Damiba was overthrown by some of the same soldiers who backed him in the first takeover in January. They accused Dambia of failing to stop attacks by armed groups.

Similar takeovers in Guinea and Mali have raised fears of a rollback of democracy in West Africa.

What is behind the instability? And how should the international community respond?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Fahiraman Rodrigue Kone – Senior researcher, Institute for Security Studies

Adama Gaye – Political commentator and former director of information at ECOWAS

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning – Visiting chair at Uppsala University’s Nordic Africa Institute