DHAKA: Barack Obama has chided African leaders who refuse to give up power in the first speech at the African Union headquarters by a US president.

The scolding came in the course of his address on Tuesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to the 54-member continental bloc, reports Al Jazeera.

‘Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk when leaders refuse to step aside when their terms end,’ Obama said. ‘No one should be president for life.’

Obama said he himself was looking forward to handing over to his successor.

‘I have to be honest with you: I just don’t understand this,’ he said.

‘Under our constitution, I cannot run again. There’s still so much I want to get done to keep America moving forward. But the law is the law and no one is above it, not even presidents.’

‘And, frankly, I’m looking forward to life after being president. It will mean more time with my family, new ways to serve, and more visits to Africa.’

Obama singled out Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza - whose re-election to a third term provoked weeks of unrest in the small central African nation - as an example of the dangers of trying to stay put.

‘When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi.’

Obama said clinging to power was ‘often just a first step down a perilous path’.

‘If a leader thinks they’re the only person who can hold their nation together, then that leader has failed to truly build their country,’ he said.

He cited Nelson Mandela, the late South African statesman, as an example for the continent.

BDST: 2238 HRS, JULY 28, 2015
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