Obama Scolds African Leaders Who Refuse To Step Down When Their Term Of Office Expires: ‘Nobody Should Be President For Life’

Perhaps inhibited by the fact that he is in the home stretch of his presidency, Barack Obama has been dropping truth bombs left, right, and centre during this trip to Africa.

Before even leaving his country, he made it well known he would tackle some of the most vexing issues on the continent. And he did just that when he raised the issue of gay rights in Kenya, despite knowing nobody would actually take him seriously on that score.

And he raised another vexing issue when he addressed the African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa- the issue of African leaders refusing to step down. The US President pulled no punches in telling those president’s for life that is not how a system is supposed to work, even giving examples such as the Burundi crisis.

“Nobody should be president for life,” he declared in his speech at the African Union “Your country is better off if you have new blood and new ideas. I’m still a pretty young man, but I know that somebody with new energy and new insights will be good for my country. It will be good for yours, too, in some cases.”

“When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi,” Mr. Obama said. “And this is often just a first step down a perilous path. And sometimes you’ll hear leaders say, ‘Well, I’m the only person who can hold the nation together.’ If that’s true, then that leader has failed to truly build their nation.”

Obama went on to say whilst one might feel those temptations, it’s best if you just yield to the system rather than to your ego.

“I actually think I’m a pretty good president, I think if I ran, I could win.”

“There’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving,” he added.

“But the law is the law, and no person is above the law, not even the president.”

Well said, but who will listen? Probably no one.

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