The African Union’s Prohibition of Unconstitutional Changes of Government: An Uneasy Choice between Fidelity to Principle and Pragmatism

ABSTRACT This article examines the application of the African Union’s norm and sanctions regime on the prohibition of unconstitutional changes of government from 2001 to 2022. It identifies three forms of unconstitutional changes of government: coup d’états and other violent changes of democratically elected government; refusal of an incumbent government to relinquish power after losing an election and constitutional manipulations to win an election or extend the tenure of an incumbent government. The discussions reveal that apart from cases of coup d’états and other violent overthrows of government, the AU has not been consistent with its application of the sanction regime. The article attempts an explanation of why this is so.