Rwandan President Paul Kagame has spoken out against African presidents who, he says, view themselves as indispensable and take their citizens for granted by attempting to extend their term limits. Although Kagame says he would not follow this trend, opposition parties say they are wary -- saying other African presidents who make similar remarks end up changing the constitution and run for a third term.
Alfred Ndahiro is the presidential advisor on communications. He spoke with English to Africa reporter Peter Clottey about Mr. Kagame’s plan of not going for a third term. “Yes the president has said that a number of times him not seeking a third term. And the reason is our constitution stipulates that the president is only given two mandates. And our president is a man of principle I know that he is going to respect that.”
Ndahiro says Mr. Kagame would abide by the constitution. “Well you need to know the president. He is a man of principle; there is no reason why we should not trust what he tells us. Most Rwandans know him now and they know exactly that he does what he means. So the constitution says that and he said that he is going to respect that. So we’ve got no reason to doubt that.”
Ndahiro commented on the reaction of opposition groups. “The opposition groups, the opposition parties that operate here have not said that and I don’t know where the information is coming from. But those abroad have got their own hidden agenda. And we don’t consider them as opposition groups. Most of those that you hear and come across are not actually opposition groups. These are people who fled the country because they have a hand in the genocide in our country. You should not take what they say for the gospel truth. In actual fact this is not what is happening in this country. If you analyze objectively you would find that what they are saying is a lot of nonsense.”
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