France coercing Joseph Kabila to pull out of the coming presidential polls to take place in Congo while in the southern part of the continent, the ANC party members which is the ruling party in South Africa voting to oust the incumbent Jacob Zuma as the country’s president thus gaining it’s name, Zexit thus the phrase when Africa’s Leaders hold onto power.
It should be noted that the former has been head of state since 2001 when his father, Laurent Desire Kabila the then president was assassinated. The current president was re-elected consecutively for 2 terms in 2006 and 2011 however, when the last elections were meant to be held in 2016 the people in power extended the dates to 2018 which didn’t help the already riotous folks of this nation who evidently don’t want anything to do with him. These are usually the biggest part of the poor and marginalized community.
As for Jacob Zuma, his leadership has been marred by series of corruption scandals and cases with calls for him to step down, a step he has continuously given a deaf ear.
Since on the 23rd of December it will be the first time for a peaceful transition of power in the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, the US together with Equatorial Guinea are asking the incumbent not run again for office since it will undermine the credibility of the elections. It should be noted that the president has been so for 17 years now having taken over from his assassinated father who in turn had overthrown the infamous Mobutu Sese Seko.
It is reported that electronic voting is going to be used with an excuse of wanting to cut costs while the international community on the other hand believes this particular country should stick to ballot papers for further credibility.
With corruption charges like failing to refund government money he spent on his house and links to the wealth Indian Gupta family, all this keeping in mind that the 75 year old has been president since the year 2009. He lost the party head sit and the ANC is planning to give him a vote of no confidence which is backed up with a scheduled date this February to have the same vote carried out in parliament.
After countries on the African continent got their independence from foreign powers like the British, French, Portuguese, Germans and Spanish, they have been trying out this self-rule thing with a few trying harder than their counterparts. But the majority are crippled by presidents holding onto power for too long. Such countries have similar problems as a result which include, failing economies, corruption scandals, political persecutions, abuse of human rights, poor education systems, lack of free health care, chronic unemployment and the list is endless. this means that for South Africans hearing about the Zexit is music to their ears.
By Angela Kyolaba