Thought to be one of the most promising regions in Africa in matters of democratic consolidation, the emerging picture in West Africa is different and things are not getting better. Like Central Africa, West Africa too has witnessed a dramatic erosion in democratic values in recent times. This story is published by Eminetra:

The democratic recession across West and Central Africa is showing new signs ahead of […] elections.

Niger officials have closed the Internet and prosecuted the former prime minister for trying to overthrow the government after being contested in last month’s elections. In Chad, security forces fought a shootout at the house of an opposition candidate whose mother was murdered prior to next month’s elections. In Benin, where elections are held in April, recent amendments to the election law have effectively outlawed opposition candidates.

The incident occurred months after Mali’s democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup, and Guinean and Côte d’Ivoire leaders said critics violated constitutional term restrictions. I fought for the third term. Later this month, citizens of Congo Brazzaville will vote on what analysts widely expect to be a fake election, allowing 77-year-old President Denis Sassou Nugeso to extend his 36-year reign. (A change in the election law that came into force in 2015 removed the 70-year-old age limit).

Read the full article here. Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on World Democracy or our articles on Worldwide Corruption.