Some African presidents might take advantage of Covid-19 pandemic and stay in office longer than their terms. The pandemic is yet to reach its peak in Africa with WHO warning that Africa might experience its worst in due course and it may need USD 2 billion as emergency kitty.
That’s a grim picture and actually sad news to say the least. But the news is not poison to some African presidents whose term is supposed to come to and end or constitutionally are suppoed to seek fresh mandate from the people.
Take a case in point – Malawi. Peter Mutharika, Malawi’s 79-year-old president has taken advantage of the pandemic and postponed political campaigns indefinitely. The country’s constitutional court had annulled the may 2019 presidential elections results and ordered a repeat in 150 days.
And just 11 days after the ruling, Egypt announced its first case of Covid-19 on February 14, 2020 thus becoming the first African country to register the case. As the countries across the continent moved in announcing their first covid-19 cases, President Peter Mutharika took advantage of it and closed down schools, and banned all public gatherings.
This ban affected all public gathering and halted campaigns and injuring all momentum and the chances the opposition had in ousting the 79 year old president. This is almost like stopping reggae in Kenya. Covid-19 miraculously stopped reggae in Kenya and official opposition campaigns in Malawi with one stroke.
That not being the only case, Ethiopia followed suit and banned all public gathering thus slowing down the campaign moods in the second most populous county in Africa. With a population of 110 million, Ethiopia too was supposed to carry out its parliamentary elections on August 2020 but the electoral board announced on 31st of march that it has suspended elections due to issues related to covid -19. This election would have been Abiy Ahmed’s first electoral test since his 2018 appointment and last year’s Nobel Peace Prize win.
That not being enough, in Uganda the country’s High Court has been petitioned by concerned citizens to delay next year’s vote for five years as President Museveni grabbles with the outbreak. But rumours are rife and spreading fast that President Museveni has personally postponed the 2021 elections to 2022.
In Kenya, IEBC postponed five by – elections in the wake of Covid-19. Announcing the unfortunate news, the IEBC chairman Mr. Chebukati said, we have moved these election to a later date date due to Covid-19 outbreak. IEBC was supposed to conduct elections in Msambweni constituency and other wards of Dabaso in Kilifi County, Kisumu North in Kisumu County, Kahawa Wendani in Kiambu County and Taita Taveta County’s Wundayi/Mbale.
The IEBC chairman said, “Not only has the day to day operations of the commission been adversely disrupted but also the conduct of the upcoming by-elections will be adversely affected,” With wide spread pandemic hitting the continent and spreading like bush fire, political pundits think without definite date of its stopping, Covid-19 will definitely cause some presidents and members of parliament to stay in power longer than they are supposed to.
Also this pandemic will definitely disorganise the electoral calendar and so push all due elections forward from their definite dates. If Covid -19 takes the whole of 2020, then it will be impossible for president Uhuru to leave office in 2022, so Kenya presidential election will be held sometimes in 2023.
