Supreme Court favours Kagame’s 3rd term bid
Rwanda’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favour of President Paul Kagame third term bid, dismissing the suit of the main opposition party, which sought to prevent changes in the constitution.
Following the report of a nationwide consultation which started on July 20, 2015, 24 senators unanimously voted for an amendment of the nation’s constitution to allow Kagame run a third term.
The report, which was presented in August, said only 10 Rwandans opposed the removal of the constitutional term limit.
The opposition challenged the report by seeking legal redress.
However, in its ruling on Thursday, the court held that “all depends on the opinions of the people”, adding that going against the people’s will is not democracy.
The opposition Democratic Green Party, which brought the case before the Supreme Court, said it would continue to push for protection of existing constitutional term limits, “bedevilling” Africa.
“We are not happy but we’ve not given up. We are going to appeal to the president,” Green party leader, Frank Habineza told Reuters after the ruling.
The constitutional changes must pass a referendum although there is little chance of them failing due to Kagame’s influence in the media and as his popularity as a nation-builder based on the 1994 genocide.
Apart from kagame, two African leaders, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Denis Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, have sought tenure extension in 2015 alone.
While Nkurunziza’s bid pulled through, Nguesso is still trying to clear obstacles on the path of his tenure renewal.
A sad day for Rwanda. If you have not already begun to achieve amazing
things for your county in two terms, it is most unlikely that a third
outing will be any different to those past spent.
Why do African leaders never learn?
When
this chap and his close advisers consider the firmament of African
leadership, are they blinded to the black-holes, and only see the bright
stars?
Having observed the trajectories of Mandela, Mugabe,
Obasanjo, Mogae, Musoveni, Obiang, do these folk not consider that time
has not often adduced to impact, and that the highway to honour is the
same as the path of humility.
Rwanda is not short of young
people, neither of the intelligent, and among that number, there will be
counted some fundamentalist patriots. President Kagame should have
invested his second term discovering and grooming such ones instead of
institutionalising endless tenureship.
Which way Africa; we are long in the tooth and surely time is now to grow up.
May God help us all; amen.