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Congolese
President Denis Sassou Nguesso votes in the country's referendum on October 25.
Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete at the UN General assembly, September 27, 2015.
Reuters/Montage
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By Christina Okello
Following
a weekend of elections on the African Continent, analysts are drawing parallels
between Congo-Brazzaville and Tanzania even before results are announced. One
leader is accused of tampering with the constitution to extend his grip on
power, whilst the other has been credited with respecting presidential term
limits.
In
one corner, you see a political beast, greying at the temples, but still
fighting in the ring; whilst in the other, is a younger, sprightly politician
walking away.
The
contrast drawn between Congo Brazzaville's President Denis Sassou Nguesso and
outgoing Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete is striking. The latter has been in
power for over thirty years and is still vying for a third-term. Kikwete on the
other hand, after only ten years in office, is throwing in the towel. He's served his constitutional two-term limit, and says it'senough. But why is it not the case for many of the continent's other
leaders who are seeking to overstay their welcome?
Congo
Brazzaville is the latest newcomer in a growing list of countries where
fiddling with the constitution for personal gain is becoming the norm: Rwanda
is heading down that route, Burkina Faso's deposed Blaise Compaoré tried to,
and Congo-Kinshasa's Joseph Kabila is keeping a firm eye on what's happening
next door for any tips.
Each one has been buoyed by Burundi's example, where after abitter constitutional row Pierre Nkurinziza won a third term in office, much to
the dismay of his critics, none of whom were dismayed enough to stop him.
Changing
the constitution to scrap presidential term limits didn't begin today. It's
been a continued predilection among African leaders since independence. Most of
the former colonies were not organized as democracies and are still figuring
out what it means. Yet undoing the foundations of what constitutes good
governance may be the wrong way of going about it.
Ironically,
it was Sassou Nguesso who himself introduced term limits in the 2002
Constitution, only to jettison his ideals ten years later.
Unscrewing
caps on term limits here and age limits there, is not anti-democratic per se.
But it's when there are no more screws left to unhinge and you open the gateway to indefinite reelection as in some Latin American countries, that's when alarm bells start ringing, TransparencyInternational warns.
Shock
of democracy versus a constitutional coup
Voters
in Congo-Brazzaville seemingly heard them loud and clear, as many shunned
polling stations on Sunday. Turnout was only 10 per cent, it was revealed
on Monday. Proof for the Opposition that voters had heeded their calls to
boycott what they described a "constitutional coup d'etat".
On
the government's side, the referundum is "above all an instrument of
participative democracy."
But
Bovid Atouta, an English teacher in the President's stronghold city of Talangai
told RFI he wasn't convinced.
"The
government needs to do much more. Fine, they're building roads, but what about
schools? The main university doesn't even have rest-rooms for students to use
and basic social services are lacking," he said in frustration.
African
leaders have long dangled the illusion of stability to induce their populations
into complicit silence, and Brazzaville is no exception.
Yet,
the real power grab comes not from the former French colony, but its colonizer
France, suggests Dr. Yves Ekoué Amaizo, head of the panafrican think tank
Afrocentricity.
Whiff
of neo-colonialism
"People
need and must stay in power in order to protect this relationship with the
former colonial power. Big companies like Total have vested interests and are
making big money," he added.
Total
this summer signed a 20-year deal to extend its drilling operations at three
major offshore sites in the Congo.
Meanwhile, French President François Hollande rattled featherslast week when he suggested that Sassou Nguesso had the right to consult hispeople. A move hardly likely to reassure opponents of the referendum, who
see it as a ploy to extend the long-serving leader's 31-year rule.
Asked
why the former Marxist leader is hell-bent on clinging to power in comparison
to Tanzania's Kikwete, Amaizo told RFI: "Number one it's a francophone
country. Second, you have a lot of major ethnic problems in the Congo, which
means that the power which should be at the sub-regional level never took
place, and they even had a war because of that."
Indeed,
Sassou Nguesso was re-elected in 1997 at the end of a bloody civil war. But
strong leadership no matter how stable does not tackle the root causes of
poverty. Many Congolese still live on less than U$1 per day.
The
situation in Tanzania is slightly different. First, it never experienced ethnic
conflict, Amaizo says.
"It's
true that Kikwete is supposed to leave, and he will leave," he told RFI.
"From
the outside it looks very nice but when you look closer, you'll see that the
person who is running as the opposition guy is Kikwete's former prime minister and that same opposition guy was part ofthe ruling party, before joining the opposition."
Amaizo
suggests that Tanzania's political change is tainted by association.
"You never get what we
call political change. If you want democracy to function you have to have
political change in Tanzania and that doesn't exist. The only difference with
Congo is that it's peaceful," he concluded.
Originally published in RFI
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