Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama to Ethiopia on Tuesday urged world leaders to change their attitude toward Africa.
In a historic speech at the AU, Obama spoke strongly against corruption, bad leadership and economic exploitation of Africa by foreign powers, without naming any countries.
He, however, sent a strong message to African leaders against extending term limits to cling to power indefinitely.
He said “Africa’s progress is at risk when leaders refuse to step aside when their terms end.
“No person is above the law, when a leader changes the rule midway, it leads to strife.”
He dismissed other leaders who insist that they were the best to hold their countries together.
President Barack Obama of United States
He added that “Burundi is tottering on the brink of civil strife after President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term was endorsed in a ballot that was deemed not credible.
“Democracy is not just formal elections, when journalists are put behind bars for doing their job, you have a democracy in name but not in substance,” Obama said.
He insisted that while Africa’s progress was clear with the continent moving toward an AIDS-free generation, the lack of democracy in most parts of the continent risked the gains the continent was making on several fields.
Obama then pledged Washington’s help to the AU, saying financing would be availed to improve the continental body’s strategic alliance with the UN.
The American leader also hailed Nigeria and Sierra Leone for advancing democracy in their countries.
He said “Nigeria witnessed a democratic transition, ushering in the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Turning to Kenya, the U.S. President warned that the democratic gains made by the East African nation would not be sustained if it continued to put restrictions on the civil society.
Obama had met the Kenyan civil society as part of his Africa’s Young Leaders Initiative (YALI) in Nairobi on …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
