Lack of Constitutional Change!!

There are various reasons why African big men decide to hold on to power instead of serving their respected terms and leaving office. One of the main causes of this is due to the lack of constitutional change. It is important to note that most African leaders are also independence leaders who came into power immediately after independence. As a result, they adopted constitutions that allowed them to take up power with no envisioned term limits. Once they were firmly in power, they have entrenched themselves and their cronies into the system to a level which allows them to influence government policy as well as public opinion to the point where the idea of a constitutional referendum is not welcome. However, in the last decade or so, many countries have been able to form and mobilize strong oppositions that have successful agitated for constitutional change coupled with term limits. This has been the case in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, and many other countries. The opposition in Zimbabwe has also been pushing hard for term limits in an effort to ouster President Robert Mugabe who has been in power since 1980. In Uganda however, President Yoweri Museveni has been rather successful at ensuring that term limits stay out of the constitution by brutally suppressing the opposition. He is rumored to be grooming his older son to take over from him, much to the opposition of everyone including major figures in the military.