Angola's long-ruling president should learn from the ouster of his counterpart in Burkina Faso and make plans to step down rather than be forced out, the country's most prominent activist has told AFP. Jose Eduardo dos Santos is the continent's second longest serving president Ä after Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Ä having led the oil-rich country for the past 35 years.
There are no signs of the Angola leader relinquishing power anytime soon. “I think the plan of President Dos Santos is to stay in power until God calls him and then if possible for his son to take over,” author, rights and anti-graft activist Rafael Marques de Morais told AFP during a visit to South Africa.
“It's up to society to help him to be aware that if he does not heed to the call for change and doesn't realise that he has been too long in power, they can also remove him by popular uprising. “No one expected the Burkinabes to rise and if the Angolans rise, no one will be expecting that to happen,” said Marques.
Is
News that Burkina Faso's long-serving leader Blaise Compaore had been booted out amid mass protests last year after 27 years in power, has reverberated across Africa.
Nine leaders across the continent, including Dos Santos, have held power for more than 20 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment