A depressing wave seems to have engulfed the African leadership with previously sacrosanct protection against despots not just up for debate – but being tossed aside completely. During the past couple decades as the continent benefitted from a commodities boom and accelerating investment, democracy appeared to be spreading fast. But as the climate changed, so too, has the approach of political leaders. Suddenly many previous defenders of democracy want to become Presidents for Life, just like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Leading them is Rwanda’s otherwise respected leader Paul Kagame who, a still youthful 57, was about to come to the end of his constitutionally acceptable term. But after supporters changed the constitution last month, Kagame is now free to rule Rwanda for another 20 years. Also in October, a “referendum” in Congo-Brazzaville removed limits on how long its President Denis Sassou Nguesso can serve – he’s already been in the top job for 31 years so is now legally allowed to do a Mugabe. Neighbouring DRC is keen to follow suit, so it is hardly surprising that with these examples, South Africans are fretting that the deeply unpopular President Jacob Zuma will angle for a similar change in the rules. Zuma has been is usual vacillating self on the subject. His supporters should pay some heed, though, to what happened in Burkina Faso where the would-be leader for life was tossed out a year ago, and a would-be successor arrested after an aborted coup last month. And now in Niger as the story below details. Plus, of course, the recent student and church protests at home. The Big Man of Africa syndrome may finally be meeting the irresistible force of a better educated public. – Alec Hogg    Â
By Abdoulaye Massalaki
NIAMEY, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Niger’s capital on Sunday to denounce what they say are irregularities in voter lists ahead of presidential elections in early 2016.
Marchers carried banners with slogans such as “The people stand up for clean elections” and “No to dictatorship” and demanded a full audit of the electoral register.
Niger, a poor, uranium-producing country in the Sahel band of West Africa, is set to hold presidential elections in February with President Mahamadou Issoufou expected to seek a second five-year mandate.
Issoufou, a key Western ally against radical Islamist groups, is widely expected to triumph over a fragmented opposition to win a second mandate. His ruling PNDS party has forecast a one-round victory.
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This is despite a failure to secure regions like Diffa, where Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants have increased cross-border attacks in recent months, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.
Opposition parties have regularly criticised vote preparations, alleging that thousands of people have been excluded from a national census, and condemning delays in amalgamating voter lists.
Niger’s interior minister Hassoumi Massaoudou has previously defended the lists and accused the opposition of trying to delay the election calendar, in defiance of the constitution.
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“Issoufou has never planned on organising credible elections with a credible electoral register,” said opposition leader Seyni Oumarou, at a meeting with political groups and civil society leaders that immediately followed the march.
Organisers said that between 20,000-25,000 people attended the protest while police officials declined to comment. A march organised last weekend was banned by the authorities.
Criminality also remains rampant in the vast country, home to drugs, weapons and migrant smugglers operating across the ancient caravan routes of the Sahara.
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Much will hinge on whether Issoufou’s main rival and former head of parliament Hama Amadou will be allowed to stand as a candidate.
The government has previously said that Amadou, who left the country following allegations of trafficking babies from Nigeria, would be arrested if he returns.
On Sunday, Oumarou said he will return. “He will be certainly be in Niamey,” he said. Amadou has denied the allegations against him.
