The past few years have witnessed the departure of a few African Big Men who had dominated the political landscape in their countries for decades. The most notable are Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who assumed the reins of power in Angola in 1979 and stepped down in 2017, and the late Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe, whose rule extended from 1980 to 2017, when the army, appalled by the prospect of his much-hated wife succeeding him, staged a coup that catapulted his number two to State House.
But a few more long-ruling Presidents remain ensconced in their positions, with no indication they will make way for fresh blood any time soon. Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who became President in 1979, and Cameroon’s Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, are but two examples of such leaders.
While the departure of the Mugabes of this world was cause for celebration, a sad development is playing out. One commentator caustically put it thus in a recent article: “For every dictator that has fallen, a new one is on the production line.”
He obviously had in mind characters like Côte d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara and his West African neighbour, Guinea’s Alpha Conde. The former has been cleared by the country’s top court, the Constitutional Council, to seek a contentious third term in elections due this month. Conde, who, a decade ago, was celebrated as the first President since independence in 1958 to come to power in Guinea in free elections, will be seeking to extend his mandate beyond the constitutionally permissible two terms when Guineans go to the polls on October 18. His ruling Rally of the Guinean People party, which has nominated him as its candidate, argues that the two-term limit enshrined in a new Constitution approved in March does not apply to previous terms.
The quest by Ouattara and Conde to extend their time in office is reminiscent of what happened in countries like Uganda and Rwanda. As some readers may recall, Uganda did away with term limits in 2005 and, in 2018, the country’s Constitutional Court removed the hitherto age limit of 75 for anyone serving as President. This paved the way for President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, to once again run in 2021 and possibly rule for life.
In Rwanda, a 2015 referendum ushered in a constitutional change that allows Paul Kagame, who has ruled the country for more than two decades, to be President until 2034.
By many accounts, Kagame has done a good job. When he ascended to power in the aftermath of an unthinkable genocide, Rwanda’s economy was in tatters. Thanks to his good management, the country’s gross domestic product grew by an average of 7.76% between 2000 and 2019, a rate that is forecast to persist for the next few years. Rwanda now aims to be an upper-middle-income country by 2035 and a high-income one by 2050.
Some leaders who occupy the Presidency for very long – like Kagame – may do wonders for their countries, but that can never be a good reason for doing away with Presidential term limits. As one commentator has pointed out, while frequent transfers of power – through term limits – are not a silver bullet, they are beneficial in many ways, including the fact that they tend to disrupt corruption networks, encourage leaders to respect the rule of law and boost public support for democracy.
It’s for this reason that I wish the day will materialise when the Economic Community of West African States resuscitates efforts to limit member countries’ Presidents to two terms in office, scuppered in 2015 after Togo and the Gambia raised objections. A similar initiative by the African Union ended in 2005 in the midst of opposition led by Uganda. That too must be revived.