Microsoft Word - Seminar report - AU and UCG Seminar Report.doc

This report documents a seminar held on 18 March 2009 by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, focusing on the African Union's (AU) policy regarding unconstitutional changes of government (UCG) in Africa. The seminar, featuring presenters Issaka K. Souaré and Francis Ikome, evaluated the effectiveness of the Lomé Declaration and the AU's Constitutive Act in deterring military coups and other unconstitutional power shifts, while proposing reforms to create a 'New African Governance Architecture' (NAGA).

• The African Union defines unconstitutional changes in government through four specific scenarios: military coups against democratically elected governments, interventions by foreign mercenaries on behalf of local actors, replacement of government by rebel movements or armed dissident groups during civil war, and the refusal of an incumbent government to hand over power to a winning party after free and fair elections.
• Under the Lomé Declaration and Article 30 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the AU is required to suspend any member state for six months following a coup. During this period, the new government is expected to restore constitutionality, such as by organizing free and fair elections.
• The 1997 coup d'état in Sierra Leone served as the primary catalyst for African heads of state to establish a unified continental position on unconstitutional changes in government, which resulted in the Lomé Declaration.
• While the AU has been consistent in responding to military coups, it lacks a coherent policy for other forms of unconstitutional change. Specifically, the AU has been criticized for promoting 'governments of national unity' or coalitions following disputed elections in countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe, which some argue are tantamount to coups.
• To improve governance and prevent unconstitutional changes, Issaka K. Souaré recommended several reforms: prohibiting coup leaders from running in the elections they organize, taking firmer action against incumbents who refuse to leave power, banning immediate family succession, and adopting a binding continent-wide limit of two presidential terms of maximum seven years each.
• Francis Ikome argued that the Lomé Declaration is biased because it focuses more on how power is acquired than how it is maintained, thereby failing to address poor governance as the root cause of instability and effectively providing a 'shield' for undemocratic incumbent leaders.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Microsoft Word - Seminar report - AU and UCG Seminar Report.doc. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUUCGSEMREP.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Microsoft Word - Seminar report - AU and UCG Seminar Report.doc. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUUCGSEMREP.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Microsoft Word - Seminar report - AU and UCG Seminar Report.doc |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUUCGSEMREP.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndmicrosoft, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - Seminar report - AU and UCG Seminar Report.doc}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUUCGSEMREP.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }