President Barack Obama of the United States this morning addressed African leaders at the African Union Headquarters in Ethiopia.
During his speech, President Obama spoke against African leaders who sought to be life Presidents. He said, “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.
President Obama is the first American President to speak at the AU.
