Africa and the Curse of Sit-tight Leaders

Obinna Chima

Africa’s leadership landscape is littered with broken promises, twisted constitutions, and battered democracies, mainly due to sit-tight syndrome. Across the continent, a growing number of leaders seemS unwilling to relinquish power, clutching onto it with tenacity that defies democratic norms.

From Cameroon to Uganda, Ivory Coast to Equatorial Guinea, and many more, the pattern is disturbingly familiar. These politicians ascend to office with popular support, consolidate power, amend the constitution, and remain indefinitely. In others, like Togo, dynastic succession and manipulated elections have turned the democratic process into a farce. These leaders preside over countries plagued by poverty, insecurity, and corruption, while ignoring the real cost of overstaying in office. This unfortunate situation was demonstrated in a recent skit by popular Nigerian comedian, Kevinblak, which depicted how they hold onto power even in death.

Indeed, sit-tight leadership erodes public trust, weakens institutions, stifles innovation, and breeds instability.  For instance, reports that emerged from Uganda a few days ago showed that its long-serving President, Yoweri Museveni, 80, has been declared the governing party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election, opening the way for him to seek to extend his nearly 40 years in power.

 In his acceptance speech, Museveni said he was responding to the “call” and, if elected, would press ahead with his mission to turn Uganda into a “high middle-income country.” Museveni has ruled the East African country with an iron hand since he seized power as a rebel leader in 1986. He has won every election held since then, and the constitution has been amended twice to remove age and term limits, allowing him to remain in office.

Pop star-turned-politician, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, who is the major face of opposition in the election scheduled for next January, has continued to face growing state repression. Another prominent opposition politician in the country, Kizza Besigye, has been in detention since November after being accused of treason.

In Cameroon, the electoral commission recently rejected the candidacy of Maurice Kamto, President Paul Biya’s main rival, in an upcoming presidential election. Biya, 92, the world’s oldest serving head of state, said last month he would seek re-election on October 12, despite rumours that his health is failing. He has been in power since 1982, nearly half his lifetime. Kamto, 71, was considered Biya’s strongest rival in past elections.

“At 92 years old, Paul Biya is older than the atomic bomb, older than space travel, older than the United Nations, the computer, and even the internet,” a television presenter quipped in a humorous video circulating on social media.

The story is not different in Ivory Coast, where President Alassane Ouattara has announced he will seek a fourth term to continue to lead the West African nation, with many heavyweight opposition candidates excluded from the race. With the country’s most high-profile opposition politicians ruled ineligible, Ouattara is now the frontrunner. The 83-year-old president has led the country since 2011.

Already, two main opposition parties have been banned ahead of the presidential election. They are the African People’s Party of Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) – led by former president Laurent Gbagbo – and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country’s largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has continued to rule Equatorial Guinea since seizing power from his uncle in a coup in 1979.  Equally, in the Central African Republic, President Faustin-Archange Touadera, last week, announced that he will run for a third term, as he seeks to extend his rule into a second decade after scrapping term limits in 2023. Since taking office in 2016, Touadera has enlisted outside forces to stay in power amid a persistent civil conflict, including mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner militia, who intervened in 2018 on the side of the government.

Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé is also on a similar path as his 2024 constitutional reforms scrapped term limits and converted the presidency into a Council of Ministers position with indefinite renewable terms, effectively consolidating political control. His family has ruled the country for 58 years, as he took over in 2005 from his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who had ruled for almost four decades.

In the same vein, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, the President of Djibouti, in 1999 extended his rule through constitutional reform, and he has not ruled out running for a sixth term in next year’s election. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s President, has been in power since 2000.

Many of these leaders were once hailed as liberators or reformers. But somewhere along the way, they became captives of the very power they once claimed to wield for the people. They now fear what comes after office, and in that fear, they sacrifice national progress for personal survival. Their refusal to leave office turns leadership into a zero-sum game, where succession becomes a threat rather than a democratic transition.

Regrettably, the voices of the youth, which is the largest demographic on the continent, are drowned out by gerontocratic regimes that no longer represent their aspirations, with civil society routinely muzzled. Electoral commissions are captured and controlled by the ruling governments.

Unfortunately, the African Union has no voice on the challenges posed by the sit-tight syndrome.

But silence is no longer an option. If Africa is to rise, economically, socially, and politically, then it must confront this curse head-on.

Leadership must not be a life sentence. Power must be seen as stewardship, not ownership. Term limits must be respected, not in theory, but in practice.

This is because the continent continues to suffer from leaders extending their terms in office and adopting rigid mindsets. The despotic nature of these dictators has not only caused immense suffering for the majority of the populace but has also had a detrimental effect on the continent’s overall progress and development.

The issue of conflict, which takes different forms and leads to loss of lives and property, forced displacement of a sizable population, refugee crises, poverty, starvation, and the continent’s general underdevelopment process, comes at the end of these leaders’ attempts to perpetuate themselves in power.

Corruption is another factor that draws people to the sit-tight leadership mentality found in several African nations. Most of these African presidents enter public service with the ulterior motive of accumulating fortunes at the expense of the community.

African leaders need to understand that the only thing constant in life is change and that everything is constantly changing. Therefore, it becomes quite unsettling to see how an African leader finds it extremely difficult to abide by the constitution’s provisions regarding the terms of office, and will do everything in their power to prolong their tenure—even in the face of resolute opposition from the populace, which frequently pays with their lives.

Periodic change in political leadership through a democratic process makes leaders accountable to the people they represent. The threat of being voted out of office encourages responsiveness to public needs and concerns.

Democratic processes ensure that a wider range of voices and perspectives are represented in government. This leads to policies that better reflect the interests of the entire population. Additionally, competition for power inherent in democratic elections encourages political parties and leaders to offer innovative solutions and policies to appeal to voters. Regular changes in leadership reduce the risk of entrenched power and corruption.

Democratic processes provide mechanisms for removing leaders who misuse their authority and reinforce the idea that no individual or group is above the law, strengthening the foundations of a just society.

What Africa needs are bold, visionary leaders who understand that greatness is not measured by how long you stay in power, but by what you do with the time you’re given. Leaders who build institutions strong enough to outlast them. Leaders who prepare successors and step aside with dignity. That, and not indefinite rule, is the true legacy worth leaving behind.