East Africa: Regional Rights Bodies Push for Uniform Presidential Term Limits from allAfrica.com

Nairobi — National human rights bodies in East Africa have drafted a regional Bill of Rights requiring heads of partner states to serve only two terms of five years each, thus intensifying the debate over the need for a uniform political system in the much-anticipated regional political federation.

Section II of article 15 of the draft Bill, titled "Tenure of Office for the Chief Executive," states: "No person shall be eligible to serve for more than two terms of five years each as a chief executive of a partner state."

But before it is tabled in the East African Legislative Assembly for the first reading, technocrats are already warning the Bill will not get a nod as term limits are not provided for in a Bill of Rights but by virtue of a Constitutional Act. Also, term limits are unnecessary in a country that upholds either a parliamentary or hybrid political system, but are desirable in a presidential system -- a fact the Bill turns a blind eye to.

Some legislators told The EastAfrican that although it was important to harmonise policies, laws and institutions as part of the regional integration process, it was equally important to accord countries some national space so they could handle issues specific to them. For instance, Rwanda has opted for a presidential term of seven years, which will in the interim allow the country to advance without election interruption, as it recovers from the ravages of the infamous 1994 genocide.

The draft Bill, a copy of which The EastAfrican has obtained, features 45 articles grouped as: dignity rights; fundamental freedoms; equality rights; social rights and obligations; citizens' rights and justice rights. The draft is based on a review of the different Constitutions in the region, to determine the legal status of human-rights protection.

The review found that civil and political, social, economic and cultural rights in East Africa's Constitutions are not adequately protected. So are the rights of vulnerable groups like women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly while emerging rights like that to peace and a healthy environment are almost not covered at all.

The national human rights institutions recommended that while filling the gaps, it is important that East African states have a standard to follow.

But in the event that the Bill becomes one of the guiding manuals in setting up the East African political federation, Uganda will find itself in an invidious position following the controversial lifting of presidential term limits in 2005, which paved the way for President Yoweri Museveni to contest again after he had served two terms already.

For integration's sake

It is also inevitable that the opposition in Uganda will support the Bill, because it has been using the lifting of term limits as a major plank in campaigning against the incumbent. Indeed, the two times he has contested for the presidency, Dr Kizza Besigye, leader of the Forum for Democratic Change has pledged to restore term limits if elected.

If adopted, the blueprint will be the common human-rights standard for the region. Thereafter, it is likely that countries that do not have term limits like Uganda or whose terms exceed five years like Rwanda will be pressurised into conforming.

Dan Kidega, an EALA MP said: "When the Bill is tabled, I expect debate to concentrate on the practicability of standardising term limits in the region, but knowing that whereas we are pursuing various fronts of regional integration by harmonising policies, laws and institutions, we must leave national space where certain issues can best be handled."

Officials at Kituo cha Katiba, an East African think tank on constitutional affairs that facilitated the drafting of the Bill said respondents singled out Uganda's willingness to return term limits as the acid test of its commitment to ensuring an appropriate political federation.

"While drafting the Bill of Rights for the East African Community, one thing that kept coming up was uniformity in the presidential systems. People, especially the elite, think Uganda should not have a different system," said Edith Kibalama, the executive director of the body.

A senior official from the Open Society Initiative for East Africa said term limits are desirable in a presidential system, especially in a region like East Africa that has for too long suffered from the "big man syndrome," in which the state becomes the personal property of one individual and rights are turned into privileges enjoyed at the discretion of the president.

But Open Society, an initiative supporting good governance and respect for human rights in the region warned that introducing term limits through a Bill of Rights as a regional standard may not be practical.

A programme officer, Mugambi Kiai said: "The problem with specifying a term limit within a Bill of Rights is that if the operative political system in certain partner states is parliamentary or hybrid, the necessity for such a provision is entirely removed." He added: "I would suggest that the Bill of Rights is not the place to find a provision limiting term limits of presidents within a presidential system; this must be provided for where the governmental power architecture is being defined -- and this is not the Bill of Rights which is really the centre of the social contract between citizens and the state."