Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa
A growing pattern of evading term limits in Africa carries far-reaching consequences for the continent’s governance, security, and development.
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A growing pattern of evading term limits in Africa carries far-reaching consequences for the continent’s governance, security, and development.
China’s party-army model, whereby the army is subordinate to a single ruling party, is antithetical to the multiparty democratic systems with an apolitical military accountable to elected leaders adopted by most African countries.
President Lourenço’s efforts to reform Angola have focused on fighting corruption and entrenched patronage networks after 37 years of rule of President Dos Santos. But campaigns to improve accountability and legitimacy of the state’s institutions have been unevenly implemented. The new President has succeeded in improving freedom of the press and in removing the former president’s inner circle, including his children, from their influential positions. But his moves to reform the security sector have been met with criticism and fear that they risk consolidating the ruling party’s control and reversing the progress made in integrating the former fighting factions into a unified, effective, force.
President Alpha Condé’s maneuvers to adopt a new Constitution despite popular opposition are another step toward subverting democratic checks and balances in order to secure a third term as president.
ECOWAS’ reputation for upholding democratic norms is facing strain as a growing number of West African leaders alter rules to consolidate power and resist stepping down at the end of their mandated terms.
Urbanization and governance shape the political economy of heroin trafficking in Southern and East Africa. Case studies of heroin trafficking dynamics in capital cities, port towns, interior hubs, and border communities suggest that counter-trafficking efforts should strengthen cross-border intelligence sharing, combat government corruption, consider local communities, address the role of informal transport systems in the narcotics trade, and mitigate the drug trade’s role in fueling violence.
African elections in 2020 will be a test against efforts to erode presidential term limits and other democratic checks and balances, with direct consequences for stability on the continent.
While João Lourenço has made headlines for high-profile corruption indictments against the dos Santos family patronage network, Angola’s authoritarian political system remains largely unchanged.
Vast corruption networks corruption operate in South Sudan, from Chinese-led oil conglomerates and American arms dealers to profiteering British businessmen and high-level government officials implicated in pillaging the country’s natural resources and perpetuating conflict. Several cases of corruption show how regional and international financial institutions, foreign companies, and corrupt individuals facilitate and reinforce policies that deprive citizens of their fair share of the nation’s wealth.
The electoral victory by political outsider, Kais Saied, in Tunisia's run-off election reflects both the growing independence of Tunisia's democratic institutions and the pent-up public demands for improved service delivery and redressing social inequities.
Although Nkurunziza has suppressed external reporting on Burundi, the country’s 4-year-old political and humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating.