Yaw Baah
The leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has strongly condemned the Abdourahamane Tchiani-led coup d’etat in Niger that toppled the constitutionally-elected government under the leadership of President Mohamed Bazoum.
This was contained in a statement signed by Dr. Yaw Baah, Secretary General of the TUC, at the end of a meeting to discuss the subject at the Trades Union Hall last Friday by the Executive Committee of the TUC.
Democracy, the TUC maintains, “remains one of the key values of the Trades Union Congress and other labour movements across the globe. Any act that disturbs the constitutional order in any country needs to be condemned because it takes that society back to the old order where a few people illegally take and usurp power that belongs to the people.”
The TUC will always support democracy because that is the only way to ensure respect for constitutional order, respect for rule of law, respect for human rights including the rights of workers, separation of powers and respect for the rights of women and men as groups and as individuals, the statement added.
Recalling the coups that have occurred in Ghana and many other countries in West Africa, the TUC pointed out that the claims and justifications for the interventions by the military notwithstanding “could not move the region forward in terms of social and economic development.”
West Africa, the TUC stressed, “remains the poorest region in the world. Over half of the population of the region is suffering severe poverty and destitution, in spite of the enormous natural resources in the region.”
We do not need the military in power anywhere in the region or in Africa, the TUC stated, adding that “all efforts must, therefore, be made to deepen and sustain democracy on the continent by creating and strengthening democratic institutions.”
The leadership of TUC equally condemned the attempt by ECOWAS to use force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger, explaining that “we hold a strong view that any attempt to remove the Tchiani-led military junta in Niger by force will further escalate the tension and the insecurity in the region. There is simply no reason for ECOWAS to wage a war in Niger, more so when there is no consensus among ECOWAS members. A war in Niger or anywhere in the region has a very great potential to create the environment for more insurgents and even more coup d’etats in the region, which may lead to further instability and insecurity.”
No one, in the opinion of the TUC, “can impose democracy on any country until and unless the people themselves are ready for it. The lessons from Afghanistan are still very fresh in our minds, and so we have no excuse to send our military men and women to die in Niger. We need them at home to protect us from the insurgents and external forces who are gradually but surely coming close to our borders with neighbouring countries.”
According to the TUC, any such deployment would be disastrous, and the President and Commander-in-Chief should not even contemplate it.
By A.R. Gomda