Africa In The Grip Of Tenure Elongation Seekers

FROM Burundi to Rwanda. Congo to Uganda. The song appear to be of similar tones as Africa’s democracy may be on the back foot, in what looks like a return to the era of sit-tight leaders; even where such aspirations run counter to constitutional provisions of the countries involved. Democracy on the continent may be threatened by increasing number of few leaders inclined to rule for life.

With President Pierre Nkuruziza’s debacle in Burundi, yet unresolved, to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, his neighbour, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has uncharacteristically joined the fray. On Thursday, Bujumbura accused Kigali of training rebels seeking to destabilise the country.

“Rwanda is hosting Burundi’s failed coup leader, and helping rebels launch cross-border attacks, Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe,” said. An allegation Rwanda has denied, and said its neighbour is trying to deflect attention from its own problems. But as the world desperately search for the best possible approach to avoiding the 1990s genocide that crippled both countries, Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso would not be outdone in what appears a seriocomic way of seeking global attention. President Yoweri Museveni is set to hold on to power in Uganda, even as ousted Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore has been fingered for the actions of the Presidential Guards, which attempted scuttle October 16 presidential election in the country. These leaders have so far spurned calls to allow democracy to thrive in their countries by quitting office at the end of their term limits.

Nguesso, 71, who has ruled oil-producing Congo for 31 years in two separate spells in office, is banned by the country’s constitution from seeking another term.

However, he has called a national forum to discuss reforms, including raising the maximum age for presidential candidates and scrapping the two-term limit, feeding expectations he will seek to extend his rule in next year’s polls.

“I have decided to directly give a voice to the people in order for them to decide on the draft law formulating the fundamental principles of the Republic,” he said.

Recently, Nguesso announced a referendum on changes to the constitution that could allow him to run for a third term in office.

He replaced two of his cabinet ministers last month after they took part in an opposition-organised meeting that called for resistance against any attempts to revise the constitution.

Amidst allegation of financial impropriety by the French authority, tens of thousands Congolese took to the street on Sunday to voice their opposition to possible constitutional changes that would allow Nguesso to extend his rule.

If the Congolese leader’s ambition is not entirely surprising, that of Kagame, who helped usher in democracy after taking de facto power at the end of the Rwanda’s bloody civil war in 1994, is uncharacteristic of a President once touted as the new face of Africa leadership. He is now enmeshed in schemes to change the constitution to suit his ambition. To what extent he was ready to yield to the American warning of a change of heart is yet to be seen.

The US government warned Kagame that he faces instability and uncertainty if he presses ahead with plans to change the constitution of Rwanda, to allow him to stay on for a third term.

He has also been criticised repeatedly for stifling opposition, interfering in neighbouring countries’ affairs – including the long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than five million people have died – and trying to cling to power.

Kagame’s misadventure in power follows unrest in Burundi where President Nkurunziza won a third term earlier this year. More than 100 people died in the violence amid protests that his candidature was unconstitutional.

Seizing on the issue during his visit to the continent in July, US President Barak Obama cautioned, “When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi,” he said in Ethiopia. “And this is often just a first step down a perilous path.”

Uganda is readying for national elections in 2016 and Museveni is expected to run despite ruling for the last 30 years. Uganda introduced term limits in 1996, but in 2005 scrapped them.

The President recently got the formal nod from his party to run again, setting him up for a possible confrontation with ally-turned-adversary, former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.

Though, believed to be a key western ally and has been credited with returning economic stability to Uganda after years of turmoil, Museveni’s critics have accused him of failing to check runaway corruption and of using security forces to harass opposition supporters during elections. He is also suspected of grooming his son, Kainerugaba Muhoozi, to succeed him. A charge, which Museveni regularly denies, among others.

Museveni’s spell, however, appears to be working on the opposition as they have always failed to reach a consensus on a coalition flag bearer to run against him. Recently, a coalition of oppositions again failed to choose between Mbabazi and Dr. Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Uganda’s main opposition party. Besigye had previously contested on three occasions against Museveni.

Obama, apparently finding it hard to understand the penchant among African leaders to create chaos in their countries out of desire to perpetually cling on to power, had openly lamented his frustration and telling the leaders, “your countries need new blood and new ideas.”

The 53-year-old president, who is doing his second and last term in office, said he too thought he was “a pretty good president”, quipping: “I think if I ran, I could win. But I can’t. The law is the law and no one person is the law, not even the president.”

Apart from Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and a handful other countries, the vast majority of other countries have been gravitating towards undemocratic tendencies.

The African Union, currently led by 91-year-old President Robert Mugabe, may be in a helpless position to lead a change of heart among his sit-tight colleagues. Himself, having been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, is obviously tired and has since over-stayed his usefulness in office.

Speaking on the third term syndrome, the chairperson of the AU Commission, Mrs. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said: “We have various constitutions –– some have terms, some have no limits.” According to her, what is important was that when leaders’ terms are over, they must respect the constitution and seek not to shift the goal post during the cause of the game.