In August 2020 the governing party in Guinea ask President Alpha Conde to seek a controversial third term in office and after weeks of speculation; also the President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara announced that he too is seeking a third term.
This recent surge has left many wondering the primary cause of the rise in seeking an unconstitutional third term in office by these African leaders.
There has been a rise in the ambition of African leaders to rule beyond the time prescribed for by the law. Still, this surge is not just a recent development, and one will wonder what is the primary reason behind the urge for African leaders seeking to lead like a dictator.
Let us start our examination from home in Nigeria without having to go into the military regimes, one of the significant dents on the former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a democratic leader was his desire to pursue a third term in office.
Robert Mugabe lived long enough in power to be chased out by a coup as a villain, while the likes of Omar al-Bashir and Muammar Gaddafi also suffered the same or similar fate. The tradition around Africa is for the leaders to be forcefully chased out of office instead of leaving at the right time.
There are a plethora of examples across the whole of Africa of leader who overstayed their time in power or sought to remain in power till death. The question is, what is the primary cause of this wave among African leaders.
Let us start looking from the first major enabling factor, which is the people and their undying loyalty to the legends of most of these leaders.
The first generation of African leaders most of which led the fight against colonialism and secured independence for their country enjoys the undying loyalty of their people and laid the foundation for the President for life practice that African leaders are not willing to let go.
For example, in the Gambia, it is the parliament that is loyally arguing for a third term for President Adama, in Guinea it was the governing party that recommended that president Conde run for another term in office, this form of loyalty that these leaders enjoy from the people is a significant factor that drives their audacity to impose themselves in office beyond their constitutional term.
The second factor is the fact that Africans were never used to democracy, it was a system of government that was introduced by the westerners in place of the monarchical system preferred by Africans and the leaders elected in a democratic system always seek to find a way to take advantage of the system or constitution so that they can stay in office forever.
The thirst for power and the desire to cling to it is also a reason why most African leaders would seek a third term or more term in office against constitutional prescription.
The thirst for power added to the insatiable greed are primary font liner in the ever-present and growing third term ambition.
There have also been whistles blowing here and there about the ambition of President Buhari and the APC to prescribe six years one term in office for elected leaders in Nigeria that will allow him to run for one more term in office. Hopefully, these unsubstantiated rumours remain exactly what they’ve been, rumours.
There is a need for more stringent hands in dealing with issues of leaders’ manoeuvres and attempt to stay beyond their constitutional term in office, not only by the countries involved but by a more prominent organisation like the African Union and ECOWAS.
The African Union, ECOWAS and other sub-regional organisation need to make an effort in building policies that will ensure two-term and protect the constitutional integrity of the countries that are part of their bodies. They would be able to sanction and expel countries that violate this policy.
Stringent handling of this manner is the only way to ensure a long-lasting change and bring a halt to the recent sudden rise of the ambition to become a democratic dictator by some African leaders.
