African leaders at the African Union (AU) summit have “unequivocally” condemned the recent “wave” of coups on the continent, the pan-African organization’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security said Sunday.
“Every African leader in the assembly has unequivocally condemned the pattern, the resurgence, the cycle, the wave of unconstitutional changes of government,” Bankole Adeoye said at a press conference during the AU summit, which runs until Sunday evening in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The AU “will not tolerate any military coup in any form,” he added, recalling that countries that have faced coups have been suspended by the AU Peace and Security Council.
“Do your research, at no time in the history of the African Union, we have had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, suspended: Mali, Guinea, Sudan and Burkina Faso,” he added.
Referring to the case of West Africa, he said that the “Sahel must not become a hotbed” of unconstitutional changes of government, described as a “scourge”.
In his opening speech at the summit on Saturday, the chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, referred to the “disastrous wave” of coups d’état and stressed the “known causal links” with the development of terrorism.