Ghana’s speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, has called for the inclusion in the African Union Charter, a mandatory two terms for African leaders in their respective countries.
That, he said, would give real meaning to transparency in governance and democracy, both essential tools for accelerated development.
Mr Ala Adjetey made the call at the just- ended African Speakers’ conference held in Cairo, Egypt. It received massive support from his colleagues.
The two day conference brought together about 35 Speakers and presiding members of African Parliaments to discuss how to make democracy serve the cause of development on the African continent.
Mr Ala Adjetey said: “Although there is no perfect democracy anywhere, African leaders owe it a duty to continually strive to make democracy better by deepening it and making it more representative.”
He said leaders should also make their government more accountable and transparent in order to serve the generality of the people, rather then a selected few.
He expressed regret that “despite the wind of democratic governance blowing across Africa, the reality is that most African leaders feel reluctant to practise it by amending constitutions often and often to perpetuate their autocratic rule”.
He was of the view that including the mandatory two terms in the charter, would boost the attainment of real democracy for development.
The Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, who opened the conference, observed that “democracy and development are principal vehicles towards a better future for Africa.
