Constitutional Entrenchment in Regions Prone to Military Rule: The Armed Forces and Separation of Powers in Anglophone West Africa

Abstract

The renewed interest of constitutional scholars in the role of the armed forces in West Africa is so far focused on the francophone countries in the region. This article shifts the attention to anglophone West Africa by analysing the military’s position and interdependence in the constitutions of the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Building on the idea of including the armed forces in a framework of separation of powers, it appreciates the military’s constitutional position beyond its executive role as a separate constitutional actor and makes visible its interdependence also in relation to the other branches of government. As becomes clear through such a perspective, the military’s constitutional entrenchment in anglophone West Africa continues to be shaped by a number of “secured benefits” of past military regimes. In addition, some further vulnerabilities become visible that demand constitutional reform.