If any elected leader was asking to be overthrown, it was President Kumba Kobde Yala of Guinea Bissau.
His fellow African presidents were fond of quipping that if Yala attended a gathering of erratic leaders, he would stand out as the unpredictable one.
Born of peasant stock in one of the world’s poorest countries, Yala was blessed with the gift of the gab. He capitalised on the mood of frustration and fear created by 11 months of military conflict in the late Nineties.
But when the 45-year-old former schoolteacher with the red bobble cap came to power in his country’s first multiparty election he was, frankly, disappointing.
He saw off four prime ministers in less than three years and had regular Cabinet reshuffles. The army had had a guts full within a year and tried to overthrow him. Loyalist soldiers thwarted that attempt.
Yala dissolved Parliament last November after a vote of no confidence. Promised elections have since been postponed four times.
And last Sunday a 32-member military junta siezed power.
Probably Yala’s most glaring fault has been to neglect paying his public servants for the past nine months. The final straw came after last Saturday’s announcement that the poll planned for next month would not be possible.
Within a day-and-a-half of Yala’s fall life was back to normal in Guinea Bissau: traffic was back on the streets and it was business as usual.
News reports said the citizens were expressing relief at the departure of Yala.
General Verissimo Correia Seabre, the new military leader, said he did not intend to hold on to the reins for long. He promised to hand power to the country’s next elected leader and held talks with leaders of political parties and other groups.
The soldiers headed back to their barracks.
José Camnate da Bissing, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Guinea Bissau, chaired a meeting of political leaders and military officers to discuss the formation of a civilian-led transitional government.
But coups, no matter how seemingly benevolent, are no longer acceptable in Africa.
Within a day of toppling Yala the junta was taking flak from the United Nations, the African Union and an assortment of African countries, including South Africa.
The lot of settling the junta’s hash fell to the regional grouping known as the Economic Community of West African States.
This Nigerian-dominated body has had little to do with the economic development of the region, as it has been preoccupied with peacekeeping. Lately it has had its work cut out in Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.
There is, therefore, a determination to nip any further troubles in the bud.
Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade called Seabre and told him the game was up. He urged the soldier to “devolve power back to President Yala”.
The deposed president was moved from the military barracks to his home.
Last Wednesday Yala signed papers renouncing power at a ceremony witnessed by a number of visiting West African foreign ministers.
Speaking to reporters, Seabra reiterated that the army had no intention of remaining in power.
“We are in an unusual situation: we were in a country with no constitution, no judiciary, no Parliament — a crazy country in other words,” he said, “We simply corrected the situation.”
He also appealed for understanding, saying this was not a coup d’état “but the putting right of a confused, intolerable situation”.