While speaking to African leaders at the African Union Headquarters in
Ethiopia today July 28th, President Obama asked African leaders to leave
office whenever their tenure comes to an end and shaded the heck out of
Mugabe and Burundi president. What he said below...
"I am in my second term. Its been an extraordinary privilege for me to
serve as President of the United States. I love my work but under our
constitution I cannot run again. I actually think I am a pretty good
president. I think if I ran I could win. But I can't. So there is a lot
that I will like to do to keep America moving but the law is the law and
no one person is above the law. Not even the president. And I will be
honest with you.
I am looking forward to life after being president. I
wouldn'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 funny thing is I don't
understand why people want to stay so long especially when they have 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 have seen in Burundi. Sometimes you hear a leader say well I am the
only person who can hold this nation together. If that's true, then that
leader has failed to build their nation. You look at Nelson Mandela.
Madiba like George Washington forged a lasting legacy not only because
of what they did in office but because they were wiling to leave office,
transfer power peacefully. Just as the African Union have condemned
coups and illegitimate transfers of power,the AU and other strong voices
can also help the people of Africa ensure their leaders abide by term
limits under their constitution. Nobody should be president for life" he
said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Write comments