Adeniyi Kunnu, an African Affairs Analyst has said the elongation of Presidential terms by African leaders is an act being fuelled by colonial masters.
Kunnu, on Village Square Africa on News Central TV, said the masters, years after African countries have gained independence from them, are yet to release them from their firm grip.
He singled out France as the country with the highest degree of interference in African politics, accusing them of sponsoring leaders to be in power, in order for their desires to be served.
Kunnu said France controls the resources and even the finances of some of Francophone countries, as he advised African countries to find their freedom.
Describing the African Union as “toothless”, he said the union hasn’t provided enough protection for African countries in order to prevent exploitation.
Weighing in on President Olusegun Obasanjo’s botched third term agenda in 2006, he said Nigeria escaped it owing to the intelligence of voters in the country and the wisdom of the legislators of that period. He also added that contrary to what some people tag as an “allegation”, he said it is true that Obasanjo wanted a third term in office.
Elongation of Term Limit Not The Problem
Collins Nweke, a global affairs analyst said the term limits elongation has its good and bad sides, but Africa has mostly seen the bad.
He said this is because African leaders haven’t made good use of the long terms they’ve held in office.
Nweke said democracy may be helped by keeping limits out of terms of office but agreed that African leaders may misuse such opportunities.
Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, Togo’s Gnassingbe Eyadema, Cameroon’s Paul Biya, Congo Reupblic’s Dennis Sassou-Nguesso, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and most recently, Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast and Guinea’s Alpha Conde are some of the African leaders who have “served” beyond their normal terms in office.
In Cameroon, the term limit has been totally removed while Museveni sponsored a constitutional amendment to remove an age limit and reset the term limit.
Kunnu said such practices don’t help democracy, as they don’t allow the people to test different personalities and ideas.
