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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Et Tu, Abdoulaye Wade?

Abdoulaye Wade, current president of Senegal, has been seen as one of the enlightened African presidents who languished in the opposition for decades before finally getting into the helm of power. As president, he has worked hard to improve life in Senegal, even calling for an African renaissance with a huge monument as a symbol of this vision. Many have spoken well of the man - until now. Just like his other colleagues who are ruining the continent with dictatorial politics, the man, who is 85 years old, wanted to doctor the constitution  of his country so that he could win the next election with ease - he wanted to make the winning percentage to stand at 25%. This meant that one could become president of Senegal if they won just 25% of the vote. Thus, Senegal was to lose all pretence of majority rule. This is a new low even for African politics. Thankfully, Senegalese stood up and forced him to scrap the idea. Abdoulaye Wade should not even be thinking of running for president again! At 85, he should leave politics and play the role of an elder statesman. He should not spoil his name by going the way of other rogue African presidents like Mugabe, Obiang Nguema, and Paul Biya. I believe he deserves better memory.

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