Extending term limits: assessing the cost for East Africa
Are term limits really necessary for good governance and development in East Africa and the Great Lakes?
Date: 2015-09-10
Time: 09:30 to 13:00
Venue: Seminar Room
, ISS Nairobi
, Braeside Gardens
, off Muthangari Road
, Lavington
, map or
, online: VoiceBoxer
RSVP: George Mukabana
Phone: +254 72 860 7642
Email: [email protected]
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A regular change of leadership through credible elections helps build a strong democracy, but a number of critics have argued that term limits aren’t necessary for good governance and development.
The controversy surrounding Burundi’s recent presidential elections highlighted the ongoing challenge of peaceful changes in leadership in Africa. Constitutions and other laws impose term limits throughout most of East Africa and the Great Lakes region. Despite this, several presidents have mobilised political support and used legal means to either remove or ignore term limits, leading to entrenched authoritarian and personalised rule.
Uganda and Rwanda are preparing for upcoming presidential elections that will probably extend the terms of Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame. What impact will these elections have on constitutionalism and good governance in the region?
This seminar will examine the relationship between term limits and sustainable peace, development, constitutionalism and democratic consolidation in the region.
Co-Chairs:
- Yolande Bouka, Researcher, ISS Nairobi
- Uta Staschewski, Resident Representative to Kenya and Ethiopia, Hanns Seidel Foundation
Speakers:
- Professor Sabiti Makara, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political and Public Administration, Makerere University
- Professor Yash Pal Ghai, Constitutional Scholar
- H Nanjala Nyabola, Programme Coordinator, Democracy, Human Rights, and International Dialogue, Heinrich Boell Foundation
- Okero Isaack Otieno, Project Manager, Strengthening Electoral Processes in Kenya, UNDP Kenya
