Africa: Two Term Limits not Enough for African Leaders- Chissano

By Staff Writer

Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano says two-term limits are too short for African leaders to implement their policies and ideas.

Chissano who was addressing the just concluded Southern African Development Community (SADC) lawyers' forum in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, said he did not subscribe to two-term limits for African leaders.

However, he said the leaders should not stay "more than enough".

Chissano who was elected president of Mozambique in 1986 following the death of Samora Machel in a plane crash, subsequently won the first multi-party elections held in 1994 before winning re-election in 1999.

He voluntarily retired from politics in the 2004.

Presidential term limits, most often two terms, are a common feature of democratic constitutions adopted in Africa in the 1990s, but not all politicians adhere to a two-term presidency.

Chissano asked the SADC Lawyers Association to support their governments in promoting rule of law, democracy and good governance through drafting relevant model laws.

He cited out several declarations adopted by African States in their quest to ensure the rule of law, democracy and good government, saying the implementation was still the biggest challenge.

This comes at a time Zimbabwean's president Robert Mugabe refuses to relinquish power to other leaders despite ruling the country for more than three decades.

Mugabe, 90, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, won the country's elections last year and seems ready to contest the next polls in 2018.

Majority of African countries are making lee way in encouraging democracy, with countries such as Kenya, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central Africa Republic, Cote d’ Ivore, DRC and others, including the two-term limit clause in their constitution.