Dakar — President Barack Obama's widely-publicised remarks in Addis Ababa on African presidents who refuse to step down when their terms end highlights a vigorous debate which is going on across the continent.
The debate is particularly intense in new democracies, where human rights defenders vigorously oppose moves to extend the rule of presidents in countries where term limits already exist, and campaign for term limits to be introduced in countries where they do not.
I am a strong advocate of fixed terms for presidents, and have researched the question of whether maintaining the same person in power for decades makes any difference to the livelihoods of people.
In this article, I look at what we can learn from the experience of limiting presidential terms in new democracies within the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
In fact, the practice in most of the Ecowas member states, as well as citizens' perceptions on the matter, constitute excellent guides for reforms which are taken seriously by the Heads of State and Government of the Community.
In the final communique of the 46th ordinary session [1] of Ecowas, the Heads of State agreed on the "need to review the legal texts in force [2] ... in order to reflect the best practices with regard to the presidential terms of office". In the same final communique, moreover, they clearly reaffirmed their "total commitment to ... respect for the Principles of Constitutional Convergence, as enshrined in the Ecowas Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance". The Heads of State meeting which followed - the 47th ordinary session - resolved to instruct the Ecowas Council of Ministers to effect amendments they had decided upon and to submit them for signature during the next meeting. [3]
Normally, the postponement of signing the necessary draft supplementary acts should not be a concern. However, the fact that in this case the postponement was followed by an insistent rumour that it was due, among others, to disagreements between the Ecowas Heads of State and Government on provisions dealing with the limitation of presidential terms of office [4] changes everything. It becomes necessary - even urgent - to see where we stand in the region.
Limitation of terms of office - the practice in West Africa
In West Africa, the limitation of presidential terms of office is not extraordinary. Indeed, all the constitutions of the countries under democratic experiment in the region include provisions limiting terms - Togo and The Gambia are the only ECOWAS Member States which do not.
Some countries have gone even a little further than simply limiting the number of presidential terms to two. In Niger, for instance, the provisions cannot be amended. In the Guinean constitution it is clearly stated that "no one can be president for more than two terms, consecutive or not" whereas in Benin the Constitution says that "citizens older than 70 years are not eligible ... " and that "in any case, no one can be president for more than two terms."
Cape Verde, Benin, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have also so far strictly complied with term limits. But there are also countries where they have been respected after the people - such as in Senegal - or the people and the army - such as in Niger - intervened to prevent them from being undermined.
And five countries - Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Liberia - have not yet had the opportunity yet to show their willingness to comply with limitation of mandates or not.
Other reasons in favor of the limitation of terms of office for head of state
A large majority of citizens from Ecowas member states seem to be in favour of presidential term limits. The public opinion survey group, Afrobarometer, drawing on the data of the fifth round of its surveys, between 2011 and 2013, is enlightening on the question: the people of the region massively answered "Yes" when asked if it is necessary to limit the number of presidential mandates to two.
According to this publication 83 percent of the citizens of Togo are in favor of term limits; in Cote d'Ivoire the figure is 86 percent, in Senegal it is 77 percent and in Burkina Faso 64 percent.
These figures explain the reaction of Senegalese citizens when in June 2011 former President Abdoulaye Wade tried to reinterpret the Constitution in a way that would allow him a third mandate. And they explain the revolt in Burkina Faso in October 2014 against the attempt by former President Blaise Compaore to extend his term in office.
How could one be surprised if tomorrow the Togolese take it to the streets to express their disapproval of the fact that this principle is not provided for in their constitution, nor respected by their political leadership?
In conclusion, while the Ecowas Heads of State and Government seem still to be hesitating on the issue, it is worthwhile to recall that the African Union, of which they are all members, has already included in its Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (Article 23) that "any amendment or revision of the constitution or legal instruments, which is an infringement to the principles of democratic change of government" is considered part of unconstitutional means of accessing or maintaining power.
It is also useful to recall that to date, of the 23 countries (out of the 46 signatories) which ratified this Charter and which deposited the instruments of ratification at the African Union, 11 are members of Ecowas. Why should we still show reluctance with respect to this question in our region? In any case, the people always end up having the last word.
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Mathias Hounkpe, a political scientist, is Political Governance Program Manager of the Open Society Institute of West Africa.
[1] http://wanepbenin.org/files/Communiqu%C3%A9/Final_Communique_Abuja.pd f, the final communique of the 46th ordinary session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, December 15 2015, Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria. See on July 19, 2015.
[2] Particularly the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of 1999, and the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance of 2001.
[3] http://www.ecowas.int/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Final-Communiqu&eacu te;_47th-Summit_Accra_19-May-15_Eng.pdf, final communique of the 47th ordinary session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, May 19 2015, Accra, Republic of Ghana.
[4] http://www.afriquinfos.com/articles/2015/5/21/cedeao-macky-sall-nouve au-president-communaute-contre-limitation-mandats-presidentiels-26324 5.asp, article seen (in French) on http://www.afriquinfos.com on June 19, 2015 at 8:21 am.
