Voters go to the polls in Uganda today. Their sitting president, Yoweri Museveni, 81, has been in power since 1986 and is now contesting a seventh term. According to one report, “Nobody doubts that he will be declared the winner, no matter how Ugandans vote.” The situation is hardly unique in Africa. Paul Biya, 93, his Cameroonian counterpart, has held power since 1982 and won re-election last year. Even Biya is surpassed by a single person as the longest-serving leader on the continent and in the world: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 84, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979. Yoweri Museveni Despite Nigeria’s many shortcomings as a democracy, I respect our elected executives for one crucial reason: they have largely honoured constitutional term limits. Only Olusegun Obasanjo attempted to extend his tenure beyond the constitutionally permitted two terms. He failed. The rest did not even try. They all vacated their offices when their terms ended.
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