Democracy is said to live off the changes. Meanwhile, in Germany, the same person has been chancellor for 15 years: Angela Merkel. Former African heads of government do not see this as a good example.
/AFP
The list of heads of state and government who stuck to their stools is long. In Africa alone, the nine current presidents have been unable to say goodbye to their positions for years, the South African weekly The Continent lists. All nine are men. The weekly magazine spoke to four former heads of state in Africa who left office on time. One of them is former Botswana President Seretse Ian Khama.
Together with another former colleague Kham, he criticizes heads of state and government who are seeking a third or fourth term. “If you have been in the spotlight for years, you cannot imagine that you would leave your position and live like a normal person. This is a problem for this continent,” said the former president.
Examples are the meanwhile deposed Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and Sudanese Omar al-Bashir. Also on the president of Kamurun, Paulu Biya does not leave Kham dry. In office since 1982, Biya “has long since exceeded its expiry date.”
The former president of Botswana criticizes not only African leaders but also a woman in Europe: the 15-year German chancellor. “Angela Merkel has always aroused great respect for me. But when she ran in the last election, I thought if it was slowly getting enough,” Khama “The Continent” quotes in an article on undemocratic government.
Seretse Ian Khama was the president of Botswana from 2008 to 2018. After two terms of office, on March 31, 2018, he announced his resignation and handed the baton to his successor. President Mokgweetsi Masisi was sworn in on April 1, 2018.
Catherine Samba-Panza, in the years 2014-2016 acting president (ad interim) of the Central African Republic, spoke with appreciation in the pages of “The Continent” about Nelson Mandela. Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist and human rights activist who spent 27 years in prisons, voluntarily resigned from running for a second term after assuming the presidency and five years in office. As Samba-Panza stated, “It was extraordinary.”
(kna, The Continent / stas)
Polish editorial office of Deutsche Welle
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