BRIEF REPORT ON “MA YƐN NKASA”

 “MA YƐN NKASA is a bi-monthly breakfast meeting organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.ad, Ghana office. The breakfast meeting seeks to bring together experts on a specific topic that requires public debate, attention and in some instances, policy direction. The maiden edition of “MA YƐN NKASA” themed “Recent Coups in West Africa: How Safe is Our Democracy?” was held on 2/03/2022 at the Fiesta Royal Hotel, Accra Ghana. The Guest Speaker for the maiden edition was Emerita Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and former Director of the Social Development Policy Division, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She also served as the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana from 2002-2009.

The program was aimed at discussing the potential threat to the development of democracy in west Africa, as evidenced in the recent coups in the sub-region.  The meeting, which brought together key stakeholders from academia and civil society discussed pertinent issues that needs urgent attention to sustain democracy in the sub-region.

In her remarks, Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh stated that there has been about 200 coups in Africa since Ghana, the first country in the region to gain independence gained independence in 1957. Prof Manuh in her submission stated that about 50% of the roughly 200 coups in the last 65 years have been successful. She therefore admonished African leaders to institute policies that would aid in economic transformation of their countries and desist from the “winner takes all” attitude practiced in most democracies in the sub-region, which in her view, contributes to the prevalence of coup de’ tat in emerging African democracies.

The participants included; Prof. Samuel Bonsu, Rector of GIMPA, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, Dean of University of Ghana Law School, Dr. Arne Wulff, Resident Representative of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, other academics, representatives from the National Peace Council, Christian Council of Ghana, Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and scholars from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung scholarship program and representatives from other civil society organizations.