Veteran journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has admonished African leaders to desist from creating situations that would lead to coup coup d’état.
The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper said African Presidents condemning the recent spate of military overthrows of civilian governments in Africa is hypocritical.
According to the senior journalist, they are to blame for the development because majority of them fail to create a conducive environment for citizens to thrive.
Mr. Pratt said the celebration by the masses is a demonstration of their worsening socio-economic plight while leaders continue to live in extreme luxury in the name of democracy and civilian rule.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV on Wednesday, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. said ordinary people don’t care about the system of government in place if their basic needs and aspirations are met.
However, since democracy has failed to meet the basic needs of the masses, he said it is only natural for them to support any form of regime change.
“The masses out there in the streets, our villages, the peasants, they don’t give a heck about what we call democracy and what we say we are defending. They need very basic things. If the so-called democracy does not address the needs and aspirations of our people, they will not support it. So when you find thousands of people on the streets supporting coup regimes, they are supporting themselves not the coup” Mr Pratt stated.
To him, the economic conditions in Africa have created a conducive environment for coups.
“Coup d’état just don’t happen. They happen when the conditions for coup are rife. if you don’t want a coup d’état to occur, you do everything to make sure that the conditions for coup d’état do not ripe,” he noted.
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