The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has emphasized the growing prevalence of coups in Africa as a signal for African leaders to adeptly oversee their economies.
He emphasized that improved economic management has the potential to disrupt the cycle of poverty and unemployment, offering optimism for the youth to remain in Africa and actively contribute to the continent’s progress rather than seeking opportunities abroad.
“We have to do better in managing our economies to break the cycle of poverty and unemployment and give hope to our able youth to remain and work for the development of our continent instead of seeking the least opportunity to escape for greener pastures elsewhere…,” the Asantehene stated.
“No African leader can sleep happy so far as there’s an African boy willing to make the perilous journey of modern day migration,” he added.
Addressing the St. Andrews Africa Summit in Scotland, the Asante monarch underscored that as long as African youths continue to embark on perilous journeys abroad, no African leader can rest assured.
His counsel comes in the wake of recent coups in various African nations, including Gabon, Mali, Guinea, Chad, and Niger.
While unequivocally condemning coups and dismissing them as viable solutions to Africa’s challenges, he called upon African leaders to view these events as indicators of underlying issues in the democratic experiment.
The Asantehene proposed that these occurrences should trigger a thorough examination of the democratic frameworks and constitutional structures within African states, emphasizing the imperative for meaningful reforms and effective governance.
“I do not think it signals rejection of democracy as a system of governance but rather, it brings into question the structures we have built in our democratic system, and that, I will suggest reinforces the questions we’ve been raising about the constitutional arrangement of the African democratic state,” he stated.