In the early hours of Wednesday, 16 July, the military in the Central African island state of Sao Tome and Principe, led by a Major Fernando Pereira, carried out a coup d'etat. They overthrew the democratically elected government of President Fradique Bandeira de Menezes and arrested the Prime Minister, Ministers and other leaders. The President himself was away in Nigeria.
This follows the earlier coup d'etat in the Central African Republic, led by General Bozize, which overthrew the government led by President Ange-Felix Patasse.
Coming so soon after the Maputo 2nd Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, the overthrow of the government of Sao Tome, with a population of 140,000, underlined the challenge the African continent continues to face with regard to the critical matter of the defence and entrenchment of democracy.
Available information suggests that the initial complaints of the military centred largely around issues of conditions of service, including pay, housing and new uniforms. As President Menezes had undertaken to deal with these matters in person, there was no reason to assume that the military would seek to resolve them by resort to an illegal seizure of power.
Of course, the coup leader, Major Pereira has said that the reason for the military action was that widespread poverty and bad governance had led to a political crisis in the country. He said the reason for the coup was "the continuing social and economic decline" in the country.
Speaking as head of what he called the "National Salvation Front", he announced that a Council of State would be established to organise elections and restore constitutional rule. He did not say when all this would be done.
It is true that early this year tension arose between the President and Parliament. Parliament had approved constitutional changes that would limit the powers of the President, which the latter vetoed. The President then went on to dissolve the legislature and call for early elections, saying there was a "serious political crisis" in the country. He later reversed this decision.
The major political parties condemned the decision of the President to dissolve Parliament, saying he had weakened democracy. One of the political leaders, Guilherme Posser da Costa, was quoted as saying: "Parliament is now legitimised by a presidential decree and not by the people and this is a perversion of democracy. It is ridiculous and absurd." The original liberation movement of Sao Tome, which led the struggle for independence from Portugal, the MLSTP, described the President's actions as a "black page" in the history of Sao Tome.
There are other matters that may relate to the unconstitutional behaviour of the military of Sao Tome, which we should bear in mind.
In recent years it has been established that Sao Tome has big proven reserves of oil. The government has therefore been involved in a process leading to the granting of concessions to various bidders for the exploitation of these oil fields, with production scheduled to start in about four years. Significantly, the soldiers had also asked that they should be represented in the government structures handling this matter.
Reporting from Sao Tome, on 30 June this year, a correspondent of the "Inter Press Service News Agency", Lansana Fofana, had quoted Prime Minister Maria das Neves as saying:
"We, in Sao Tome, will be very careful. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of other African nations where natural resources turned into a curse rather than a blessing for them. We will be transparent as much as we can in our dealings and ensure that the people of Sao Tome directly benefit from their country's oil wealth."
On the other hand, Raul, a political commentator, said: "We do cherish wealth from our oil deposits. But we have seen how such revenue from natural resources ends up destroying other African states. So we would rather stay poor than being plunged into anarchy."
Luis, a cocoa farmer, told Fofana: "I have been on the plantations for more than 15 years but things are just not changing. The discovery of oil is good news. Perhaps, this will help us educate our children and improve our social condition."
Miguel, a high school drop out, told him: "I have always nurtured the idea of going in search of greener pastures abroad; but if the story of the oil discovery is true, I will drop the idea, stay home and benefit from the largesse."
As President Bush began his visit to Africa, the British newspaper "The Guardian", carried an article written by Rory Carroll, dated July 7, and entitled "Bush begins his African odyssey today, but is he there to plunder or provide?" The subtitle, referring to Sao Tome, said: "Tiny African island wonders if America's scramble for its oil will bring untold riches or yet more pain."
Carroll reports a fisherman, Mr Lima, as saying: "The oil is an opportunity, sure. But whether we benefit depends on the conscience of the big guys."
Carroll goes on to quote a former health minister, Carlos Tiny, as saying: "It will be heaven, hell or purgatory depending on the choices of the political elite."
A former foreign minister, Patrice Trovoada, told Carroll: "Let's be honest. We are a spare tyre in case the Middle East gives the Americans a hard time. They don't care as long as the oil is safe to be pumped.Yes, corruption here is a fact of life."
The Foreign Minister in President Menezes' government, Mateus Meira Rita, has said that mercenaries, who had fought in Angola as part of the South African Defence Force Buffalo Batallion 32 during the apartheid years, supported by a small party with no parliamentary representation, the Christian Democratic Front, were responsible for the coup.
He also said: "We recognise there are social and economic problems, but there's no reason for the renegades to go ahead with this coup attempt, because power is won at the ballot box, not through violence."
Unlike the Central African Republic, Sao Tome has no recent history of sustained unrest and instability. The last time there was any evidence of such serious instability was in 1995, when a mutiny led to the detention of the President for a short period, and the holding of new elections the following year. It is true that there were anti-government protests in April this year, which resulted in the death of one person. The current coup therefore came as a complete surprise.
In time, the truth will come out as to what led to the coup d'etat of July 16. Was it occasioned by poor service conditions for the military? Was it caused by poverty and worsening economic conditions? Did it arise from conflicts among the political elite, leading to a possible crisis threatening democratic and constitutional rule? Was it prompted by corruption? Did it emanate from lessons learnt by some soldiers in the apartheid Buffalo Battalion 32? Was it caused by a scramble for oil riches? Or was it provoked by a combination of all these factors?
Whatever the reasons, it has posed a challenge to the African Union. Already in 1999, the OAU took the decision not to recognise and admit into its ranks governments that had come to power by unconstitutional means. This has been confirmed by the African Union, which, accordingly, did not invite to its Maputo Summit, the government of the Central African Republic formed by General Bozize.
In addition, the Constitutive Act that gave birth to the African Union has specific provisions relating to the important issue of democracy. In its preamble, it commits the Union "to promote and protect human and peoples' rights, consolidate democratic institutions and culture, and to ensure good governance and the rule of law." It also states that the continent is "conscious of the fact that the scourge of conflicts in Africa constitutes a major impediment to the socio-economic development of the continent and of the need to promote peace, security and stability as a prerequisite for the implementation of our development and integration agenda."
To indicate the seriousness of the continent with regard to achieving its renewal, the Constitutive Act states that: "Any Member State that fails to comply with the decisions and policies of the Union may be subjected to other sanctions, such as the denial of transport and communications links with other Member States, and other measures of a political and economic nature to be determined by the Assembly."
The reality is that Major Pereira and his colleagues have shown the greatest disrespect for the decisions and policies of the Union. They have acted in a manner directly contrary to the provisions of the Constitutive Act, which was ratified by Sao Tome and Principe, together will all other member states of the African Union. Accordingly, it also has the force of domestic law in this African country.
The coup leaders have called on the AU not to intervene to restore democracy in Sao Tome, pleading that the population is "one family", which will resolve its domestic quarrels on its own.
Nevertheless, quite correctly, the current Chairperson of the Union, President Chissano, has taken steps to ensure that the Union lives up to its obligations to ensure a speedy restoration of democracy in Sao Tome. Among other things, he has asked the countries of Central Africa to intervene in this matter, acting on behalf of the Union. They have agreed to act as requested, and as a matter of urgency.
The Protocol establishing the Peace and Security Council of the AU visualises the establishment of an early-warning mechanism. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has continuous oversight on matters of human and peoples' rights, mandated to intervene on these matters in all our countries. The African Peer Review Mechanism provides for the possibility for us to assist one another to meet the standards set in the Constitutive Act with regard to such matters as democratic institutions and culture, good governance and the rule of law.
The coup d'etat in Sao Tome emphasises the need for our continent to move decisively to ensure that all these institutions and processes are made fully operational as quickly as possible. Given the decisions we have taken with regard to African integration and unity, as reflected by the AU and its socio-economic programme, NEPAD, we cannot accept that the events in Sao Tome constitute "a family affair", that Africa must only condemn and otherwise learn to live with. Democracy in Sao Tome must be restored as a matter of urgency.
