As a child I was told democracy
means the rule for the people, by the people….So it came as a huge lift for
most African states, when they celebrated their independence, for they were now
free from colonization. Many states went to the extent of changing their
countries names; this showed how significant democracy was and still is. For
example German East Africa was a Germany colony in the African Great lakes
region, and included countries that have since changed names to Rwanda, Burundi
and the mainland part of Tanzania and Rhodesia which was under Cecil Rhodes is
now known as Zimbabwe.
Many natural resources continue
to be discovered in African States, which has played a big role in improving
their economies. As a result, many investors from abroad come to the continent
for investment purposes. With this trend, its somehow shocking that Africa
still has infrastructure, water and electricity problems amidst all this
resources. Governments are the ones that usually carry the blame most of time,
but what we forget it that a Government is run by the people, for the people. So,
the big question is, does the change in Government guarantee change in the way the
country is run?
In fact, it has proven to be a
big challenge for most opposition parties in African States to get the ruling
party out of power through elections. Nevertheless, most African leaders still find
it hard to get out of office once their time is up. Even when they do step
down, it’s reluctantly. This has led to many military coups in the continent.
The usage of presidential limits has been of great help to curb such
incidences. Most constitutions limit a president to two terms after which
he/she becomes ineligible to run for presidency again. But some presidents
still defy the two term rule.
Many head of state run to amend
the constitution so they stay in power for the third term. For example, Blaise
Compaore of Burkina Faso, Idriss Deby of Chad, Omar Bongo of Gabon, Lansana
Conte of Guinea, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. All of
the above presidents eventually won the subsequent re-elections. This tendency
has gone on for a while and is one of Africa’s major concern , as it brings
about political instability, and violence.
The most recent is the situation
in Burundi. The current president, Mr Nkuruzinza, was endorsed by legislators in
2005 to be president for five years in a power-sharing deal. In 2010, he was
voted president again. He is currently seeking re-election, which has led to
mayhem and violence in Burundi. At the moment, six people have been killed and
other citizens have fled to neighbouring countries. Also some radio stations and
Burundi University have been shut down. Protestors have vowed to get Mr
Nkuruzinza out of power, but he still determined to hang on to power, reason
being that his first term between 2005 and 2010 does not count because the was
elected by legislators and not directly by the population.
On 5th May 2015, the
Burundi constitutional court ruled that Mr. Nkurunzinza could have a third term
as he was first appointed by parliament and not directly elected. As it stands,
the major worry for Africa does not lie in the elections, but the willingness
of presidents to leave office when their time is up. What do you think could be
the ideal solution for such a problem?
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