In the 1990s, Africa made democratic gains. Multi-party system was introduced. Foreign donors helped speed up the democratization process by withholding aid hence added intense pressure to the ruling cliques. Local democratic activists paid heavy prices. Today, regime after regime in Africa are heavily focusing on killing opposition and rolling the gains achieved in the 1990s. The democratization of the 1990s, had introduced presidential term limits mainly 2 terms of 5 years each. This had ended the phenomenon of “Life Presidents” who only left office through natural death, assassination or military coups. Bongo in Gabon had ruled for 41 years, Gaddafi –Libya 40 years, Hosni Mubarak-Egypt 30 years; Obiang of Equatorial Guinea- 35 years; Dos Santos-Angola-35 years; Mugabe-Zimbabwe-35 years; Biya-Cameroon-32 years; Museveni –Uganda 28 years; and in Kenya – Moi 24 years (+12 years as Vice-President) and Kenyatta 15 years. Today, in a strange twist of events, many current Presidents are making all attempts to end term limits so that they can rule indefinitely. This has been the case in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Bukina Faso, Congo Brazaville, Nigeria, Zambia, etc.

The Good Governance Teams shall push for passage and adherence of term limits of maximum 10 years split into 2 of 5 years each. We shall push the African Union to adopt this practice and to apply to all the AU membership.

After African countries gained independence, the leaders plunged these nations into catastrophic upheavals. Civil wars and ethnic conflicts became almost the norm in almost all countries in Africa including: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somali, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, DRC, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leon, etc. In some countries as much as 25% of the population have been displaced. In Sudan, three civil wars have occurred. The First Civil War claimed more than half a million lives. The Second Civil War killed more than two million innocent Sudanese. A total of about five million were forced to flee their homes and country. Millions have suffered in refugee camps to-date. After South Sudan got its independence in 2011, it plunged into yet another South Sudanese Civil War. The war is raging at the moment. More than 100,000 have been killed and over two million have once again (for almost 5^th time) fled their homes. In the Darfur Conflict in Sudan, more than 400,000 civilians were killed and over 2.5million displaced from their homes. The DRC has experience numerous episodes of war during which over 6 million have been killed and over 3million fled into refugee camps. The worst scenario was the Rwandan Genocide where close to one million civilians were killed within 100 days due to power struggle.

Dictatorships have thrived throughout Africa throughout the post-independent period. Some have been brutal. In Uganda, Id Amin killed more than half a million Ugandans. Thousands would be put on trucks and off-loaded into rivers. Bodies would clog the hydro-electricity plant leading to power outages. The brutality of President’s Mengistu and Hissen Habre’s of Ethiopia and Chad respectively are well known. This regimes strangled every democratic space. Thousands of citizens perceived to question the regimes were jailed, tortured and killed. Freedom of expression, of assembly and of press were all curtailed.

Africa does not need foreign aid. It only needs good managers, accountable leaders who adhere to, and promote the rule of law, transparent and predictable system and a leadership that is not self-seeking but dedicated to the concerns and development of the citizens. For decades Africa has badly been ruled. Regime after regime have never been committed to the development of the population nor committed to their welfare. For close to 100years of colonial rule, Africa and its people were objects of exploitation and oppression. They worked for the development of colonizers only. The post-colonial independent leadership, carried on this exploitative colonial legacy. They treated public resources as the personal property of the leaders. Public office was turned into a personal/private office to secure personal wealth instead of serving the public. Taxes and foreign loans would all be used for personal enrichment. The personal wealth of leaders like President Mobutu of the Democratic Republic of Congo was more than the national debt. He would have paid-off DRC’s public debt and still have some change to keep. While Africa leaders amassed such massive wealth more than 80% of their citizenship as in DRC lived in extreme poverty, surviving in less than one dollar a day.

In Gabon, the President plundered the nation’s coffers for his personal use. More than a third in this oil rich nation live below the poverty line. Reports indicate that like Mobutu, the President bought a chain of residences across Europe, and many luxury cars. A US Senate investigation unearthed $130 million in Gabon’s President personal bank accounts sourced from Gabon's public finances. Yet another French investigation into Elf Aquitaine heard that the President received 50 million euros [$67-million] a year from the oil company. Confronted with such evidence, our conscience demands that we help establish Good Governance Teams across Africa.