The Burundi Unrest: A True Manifestation of Power by Another Power-Hungry African Leader

Protesters against the President's bid for a third term in Burundi, photo credit: Reuters. Source: Constitutionnet.org

Yet again another African country is slightly descending on the verge of a civil war thanks largely to its leader’s eagerness to cling onto power by all possible means. In an era when African development hopes and aspirations are at their highest, we unfortunately still have to deal with certain so-called strong men who belief that they are the only ones capable of ruling a country.

This is of course not a new phenomenon in African politics. If you look at the current list of longest serving ruling non-royal national leaders, Africa occupy the top five spots with a total age combination of 186 years between them. This is utterly ridiculous but not a surprise as there have been numerous occasions in the continent where incumbent Presidents have gone as far as far as manipulating their constitutions just to lengthen their grips on power. Yuweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Sam Nujoma of Nambia are all known to have tampered with their country's constitutions in the past just to cling on to power.

And most recently, Burundi's next door neighbour Rwanda have had their constitution amended which allowed the incumbent - Paul Kigame to subsequently run and won a third term in office. Thankfully in all these countries, there has been little or non violence unlike what we are seeing in Burundi today. Where others have been successful though, some tried and failed, and so have to relinquish power due to popular uprising from the local populace. Closer to home, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal wanted to hang on in 2012 but people revolted against his wish. The same applied to Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso  in 2014. 

They all ended up doing the honourable thing and left before their respective countries felt into further turmoil. Piere Nkurunziza should have surely did the same. He could have even better learn from his country's near neighbours on the west - Tanzania who were enjoying a peaceful democratic transition at the same time his country was running into chaos. But who am I to judge a President for simply wanting to stay longer in office when my country is among the serial offenders. Heading to 51 years of nationhood, we are just in our second republic being ruled by only two Presidents since independence.

What continues to baffle me however is why are our leaders so addicted to power. Isn't it just too tiring to be on the spotlight all the time? Perhaps am not on the throne myself, that's why I can't get my head around it. But please dear leaders, as representatives of the people, we task you to find a quick and lasting solution to the conflicts in Burundi and elsewhere in the continent. We are all fully conscious of the fact that stability is fundamental for any development prospect. We have come a very long way and we ought to be looking forward, not backwards. We are tired of seeing Africa associated with war, hunger and diseases and we all want to see agenda2063 become a reality.