Coups d’état and the process of restoring constitutional order in Africa

All political power, whatever its nature, is governed by legal, mainly constitutional, rules. It is in this context that, in Africa, after a military coup, the perpetrators of the putsch set about re-establishing the constitutional order, suspended or abrogated by their seizure of power. Since 2012, there has been a resurgence of coups d’état, particularly in West and Central Africa. As a result, the continent is entering a cycle of almost perpetual renewal of the new constitutionalism introduced in the 1990s. In this sense, when the constitutional order can no longer perform its function of overseeing power and guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, because it has been corrupted by the ruling majority, the coup d’état appears to be a means of suspending and re-establishing it. The aim of this article is to highlight the strategies employed by coup plotters to rebuild the constitutional order.