TheCable

President Denis Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville has registered his intent to call for a referendum on constitution amendment to allow him stand for a third term.

Nguesso would be the third African president in 2015, to have attempted such, following the paths trod by Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame.

“I have decided to directly give a voice to the people in order for them to decide on the draft law formulating the fundamental principles of the Republic,” he told a gathering on Wednesday.

The 71-year-old, who has ruled for more than 30 of the past 35 years in two separate terms, said the proposals would allow candidates aged over 70 to run for office and scrap the two-term limit.

The country is expected to go to the polls in 2016, with the president ineligible to stand-in for elections, but an amendment would change all that.

In August, the president two of his cabinet ministers for taking part in an opposition-organised resistance against constitutional amendments.

Nkunrunziza succeeded in his third term bid in Rwanda despite numerous protests and fierce opposition.

In Paul Kagame’s case, a constitution consultation was reported to have been carried out, with only 10 Rwandans against Kagame’s third term.

Nguesso is the fifth longest serving president in Africa, after Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Mbasogo (36 years), Angola’s Jose dos Santos (36 years), Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe (35 years) and Cameroon’s Paul Biya (32 years).