AUG 4 — Last week, someone sent me a three-minute clip of a speech delivered by United States President Barack Obama in front of the African Union.
In that clip he touches on the end of his term as president and why he is looking forward to it.
According to The Washington Times, Obama was not so subtly chiding African leaders who refuse to let go of power when their time comes to an end.
Here’s what he said with a few additional sentences from reported quotes from the same speech:
I am in my second term. I t has been an extraordinary privilege for me to serve as President of the United States. I cannot imagine a greater honour or a more interesting job.
I love my work. But under our constitution I cannot run again. I can’t run again. I actually think I’m a pretty good president. I think if I ran I could win. But I can’t.
So there’s a lot I’d like to do to keep America moving. But the law’s the law. And no one person is above the law, not even the president.
And I’ll be honest with you, I’m looking forward to life after being president.
I won’t have such a big security detail all the time. It means I can go take a walk. I can spend time with my family. I can find other ways to serve. I can visit Africa more often.
The point is I don’t understand why people want to stay so long. Especially when they’ve got a lot of money.
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. And this is often just the first step down a perilous path.
And sometimes you’ll hear a leader say, ‘Well, I’m the only person who can hold this nation together.’ If that’s true then that leader has truly failed to build their nation.
You look at Nelson Mandela. Mandiba, like George Washington, forged a lasting legacy not only of what they did in office but because they were willing to leave office and transfer power peacefully.
And just as the African Union has condemned coups and illegitimate transfers of power, the AU’s authority and strong voice can also help the people of African sure that their leaders abide by term limits and their constitutions.
Nobody should be president for life. Your country’s better off if you have new blood and new ideas. I’m still a pretty young man but I know someone with new energy and new insights will be good for my country. It will be good for your country, too.
A constitutional term limit for a country’s top executive position. Letting go of power and finding other ways to serve, even in full health with plenty of energy. Now wouldn’t these be transformational things to see in a leader.
I wonder if President Obama sent copies of his speech to all his golfing buddies.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
