Democracy is said to be the government of the people for the people and by the people.
But what we have seen over the years in some African countries is democracy that has turned around to become despotism.
When an elected leader holds on to power for more than the time specified by the Constitution and begins to exercise power in an oppressive way then, it becomes despotism.
Leadership is not an
opportunity to flex your
muscles but it’s an
opportunity to prove
your mettle
STOP BUILDING WEAK INSTITUTIONS AND STRONG INDIVIDUALS
There are instances in which we hear things like: “it’s only a man that understands a nation or it’s only that man that can fix the problems of that nation” if he does not, no one else can do it. That is a very myopic view of leadership. If we want our continent to move from where we are to where we ought to be, we have to erase that mentality, because recycling the same individuals around the corridors of power for too long a time results in strong individuals and weak institutions
Recycling the same
individuals around the
corridors of power for too
long a time results in
strong individuals and
For Africa to move from this “despotic era” we have found ourselves, to a “true and completely democratic state” we need to be keenly interested in how long our elected democratic leaders stay in power.
Also, who gets re-elected and who gets re-appointed into office should be of great importance to us. A situation whereby a particular person or a specific group of people call the shots in a democratic society is bizarre. For this to be a thing of the past we have to stop recycling our leaders because that is one of the best ways to build strong institutions rather than strong individuals.
EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IS NOT EXTRAORDINARY
Excellent performance should be the order of the day by all public servants. Hence, re-appointing or re- electing a public servant should not be based on excellent performance. In fact, excellent performance can be rewarded, but it should not be seen as extraordinary thereby becoming a yardstick for re- election or re-appointment into public office.
As far as excellent performance remains a yardstick for re-election or re-appointment into public office, the trend of “I will impress them in the first tenure then later oppress them in the second or subsequent tenures will remain the rule of the game”.
If excellent performance remains our yardstick for re- election and re-appointment, public servants will continue to perform excellently well in their first term in office and later enrich themselves during their second or subsequent terms in office since they know they cannot get re-elected or re-appointed again as laid down by the constitution.
Allowing our leaders to spend donkey years in office, either constitutionally or unconstitutionally should be strongly opposed by the people because while they are in office for donkey years, they groom followers (legislative, executive or judiciary officers) who will be loyal to them, thereby having the means to alter the constitution to suit their selfish interest e.g. a third term bid. If the altering of Constitution is successfully done, another despotic leader, demi-god and tyrant is in the making.
ADOPTION OF A SINGLE TERM TENURE
Africa’s democracy can still be classified as nascent democracy. For this reason, we should begin to consider tenure of single term in office. In Africa, we believe so much that continuity depends on the successor based on his political party; whereas, continuity depends on the sustainability of the frameworks or structures in place. If a leader has developed a framework that is sustainable, he does not need to stay in office for donkey years before meaningful development can be attained. Therefore, we will recommend that for the peculiarity of Africa, we should begin to adopt the method we call “Lead and Leave”. How does it work? A leader will spend a single term in office, develop a long-term framework while in office and his successors will carry on with the framework. We believe if single term tenure for elected or appointed officers can be adopted alongside having strong institutions, corruption is on its way out of our continent.