Barack Obama: Africa's presidents-for-life 'are a risk to its democratic progress'

The Guardian
Jul 28, 2015
4 min read

In address to African Union at close of his visit to east Africa, US president criticises corrupt leaders and makes plea for sexual equality and to end FGM

President Obama delivers his speech at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Barack Obama has made a scathing attack on Africa’s culture of presidents-for-life, urging the continent’s leaders to follow the example of George Washington and Nelson Mandela by respecting term limits, and saying of himself: “I think if I ran I could win, but I can’t.”

The US president, addressing the African Union (AU) on Tuesday at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the close of a four-day visit to east Africa, also repeated his impassioned plea for girls to be treated equally and not suffer mutilation of their bodies.

The fragility of Africa’s recent democratic gains has been exposed by Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to override the constitution and gain election for a third term in a disputed victory, plunging the country into civil strife. Similar moves are afoot in Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

“I have to say Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk from leaders who refuse to step aside when their terms end,” Obama told delegates from across the continent.

“Let me be honest with you – I just don’t understand this. I am in my second term … I love my work but under our constitution, I cannot run again. I actually think I’m a pretty good president: I think if I ran I could win, but I can’t.

“There’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving, but the law’s the law and no one person is above the law, not even the president. I’ll be honest with you, I’m looking forward to life after being president. I won’t have a great security detail all the time. I can take a walk, spend more time with my family, look for new ways to serve, and make more visits to Africa.”

He said he was puzzled why some African leaders clung to office, “especially when they’ve got a lot of money”, prompting huge cheers and whistles from the public gallery.

The president continued: “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. And this is often just a first step down a perilous path. But if a leader thinks they’re the only person who can hold their nation together – if that’s true then that leader has failed to truly build their nation.

“Look at Nelson Mandela. Madiba – like George Washington – forged a lasting legacy by being willing to leave office and transfer power peacefully. And just as the African Union has condemned coups and illegitimate transfers of power, the AU’s authority and strong voice can also help the people of Africa ensure that their leaders abide by term limits and their constitutions.

African leaders listen to the US president at the African Union headquarters. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

“Nobody should be president for life. Your country’s better off if you have new blood and new ideas. I’m still a pretty young man but I know someone with new energy and new insights will be good for my country. It will be good for your country, too.”

Mandela voluntarily gave up power in 1999, having served one five-year term. But Africa is still replete with leaders unwilling to let go. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and José Eduardo dos Santos have ruled Equatorial Guinea and Angola respectively for 36 years. Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, was not invited to Obama’s speech despite being the current AU chairman.

Earlier this month, the Rwandan parliament voted for a constitutional change to allow president Paul Kagame to run for a third term in office. Muthoni Wanyeki, regional director of rights watchdog Amnesty International, said: “It’s a new pushback against the gains made in the nineties. Many then, a period that was seen as Africa’s second liberation, created term limits but now these terms are coming to an end, and they’re determined to hold on to power by any means.”

Only two of Africa’s 54 leaders are women, in the Central African Republic and Liberia. Obama surprised some in Kenya with his blunt remarks on gender equality and gay rights. He returned to the latter theme in his address to the AU, which is currently headed by a woman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa.

“Africa is the beautiful, talented daughters who are just as capable as Africa’s sons,” he said. “As a father, I believe that my two daughters ought to have every chance to pursue their dreams – and the same goes for girls here in Africa. We can’t let old traditions stand in the way. The march of history shows that we have the capacity to broaden our moral imaginations. We come to see that some traditions keep us grounded, but that, in our modern world, other traditions set us back.”