BURUNDI’s president goes to the polls this week to stand for president of his tiny nation for the third time, writes DIANNA GAMES. 

Pierre Nkurunziza has not been dissuaded by violent protests in which many have died or been displaced. Nor has he been daunted by the African Union’s (AU’s) calls for the vote to be postponed because of the violence, 

So, despite improvements in governance in some areas, it is business as usual for sub-Saharan Africa’s third-termers. There was a glimmer of hope late last year that change might be in the air when hundreds of protestors set fire to Burkina Faso’s parliament and forced their president, Blaise Compaore, out of power after 23 years. The president, who tried to try to get himself a third term, is in exile in Cote d’Ivoire.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there were protests in the streets when word got out that the president, Laurent Kabila, was considering running for a third term in next year’s election. He might still run, but the outcry has given him pause for thought.

It is rather different in Rwanda, where President Paul Kagame’s chances of a third term increased after legislators voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the constitution to allow his extended rule after 2017. More than 3-million people have signed a petition calling for an amendment to the constitution to allow him to stand again.

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