Cape Town - Africa as a political bloc should resolve not to tolerate any attempt by presidents on the continent to seek a third term in office, President Jacob Zuma and Ghana’s Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.
“This business of us agreeing to serve two terms, only to realise ten years is too short, is a problem,” Zuma said with a chuckle as they raised the political crisis in Burundi during a panel discussion here.
Amissah-Arthur said the issue should arise at the African Union summit in Johannesburg next week.
“I know that in the ECOWAS there was an attempt to determine a two-term limit for presidents and that may be a solution that will bring an end to this kind of agitation. I know that the AU will be meeting in a couple of days here in Joburg, and that discussion should take place.”
Zuma said greater political maturity in post-colonial Africa was seeing citizens become increasingly intolerant of undemocratic leaders.
“In a sense, people are saying ‘enough of strongmen. We are ready to take up our own, whatever, to fight that. Which is a good thing.
“If you take Burundi. Burundi was at peace with itself but this caused a problem: that the president felt he hasn’t done two terms, he still needs to do that and people believed he had done them.
“That has caused a problem. All we can do is to engage our colleagues and try to talk, as we have been doing.”
Zuma said it was thanks to such negotiations that an agreement was reached on Wednesday that Burundi would postpone elections that were due to held this month, to August in a bid to allow calm to return to the country. Burundi had enjoyed a decade of peace after emerging from civil war but President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid to seek a third term in office triggered deadly protests and a failed coup.
“We are not perfect yet but we are trying our level best,” Zuma said.
ANA