Alassane Ouattara (left) and Paul Biya (right)
By Alpha Amadu Jalloh, a Sierra Leonean author and political commentator
In Africa’s endless theatre of political absurdity, nothing is more nauseating than old men clinging to power as if the sun will refuse to rise without them. President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire and almost late President Paul Biya of Cameroon are two such relics. They wrap themselves in the language of destiny, claiming to be the chosen ones, while presiding over decaying systems they themselves are corrupted. At their ages, they should be writing memoirs, not mutilating constitutions. Yet here they are, dead politically but refusing to die, convinced they are God’s gift to their nations.
Alassane Ouattara is now 83 and still claims, without any sense of irony, that he alone can lead Côte d’Ivoire to the “promised land.” This assertion is not only arrogant but dangerously dismissive of other capable leaders. He has manipulated the constitution to secure a third term and actively blocked credible challengers like Tidjane Thiam and others from contesting. Political competition has been reduced to a closed circle where only his loyalists have a seat at the table. If Ouattara believes he is untouchable, he should remember the fate of Laurent Gbagbo, whom he relentlessly pursued out of power and into international prosecution. History has a way of humbling those who overstay their welcome.
At 83, Ouattara presides over a nation still scarred by civil war, ethnic mistrust, and economic inequality. His much-touted economic miracle is a façade, enriching a tight circle of cronies while rural poverty festers. Opposition voices are silenced through harassment and exile. The judiciary dances to his tune, and the press survives only by self-censorship. His international image as a reformer is a carefully polished lie, sold to foreign powers desperate to believe in “stability” at any cost.
Paul Biya of Cameroon takes this curse to an even more grotesque extreme. At 92, with more than 42 years in power, Biya is the longest-serving non-royal leader in the world. He spends much of the year abroad, often in Swiss luxury hotels, while his country burns. The Anglophone crisis has displaced hundreds of thousands and plunged communities into despair. The economy limps along under the weight of corruption, and national institutions exist solely to protect Biya’s court.
Like Ouattara, Biya has no interest in fair competition. He did everything to politically eliminate figures like the late John Fru Ndi, the man who once stood as Cameroon’s most credible opposition leader. Over decades, he systematically dismantled any real challenge to his rule. Rivals were intimidated, co-opted, or crushed until Cameroonian politics became little more than a stage for his one-man act.
Elections are due in Cameroon this October, and the pattern will repeat: a hollow show of democracy, a predetermined victory, and another term for a man whose leadership expired decades ago. Biya’s greatest political talent is survival not governance. By abolishing term limits in 2008, he ensured his presidency would last until either he dies or the system collapses around him.
These men share the same dictator’s manual. First, rewrite the constitution to extend your stay. Then capture the state’s pillars the judiciary, electoral bodies, and security forces to serve your will. Harass and criminalise opposition until no real alternatives remain. Sell yourself internationally as a guarantor of stability, knowing that foreign powers fear instability more than they value democracy. Finally, build patronage networks that keep the elite fed and loyal while the rest of the country starves for change.
They tarnish the legacy of Africa’s first presidents and opposition leaders men and women who risked everything to build new nations, championed democracy, and stood up to oppression. Leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, and Nelson Mandela understood leadership as service, not ownership. They knew power was temporary and that progress demanded accountability and respect for the people’s will. Ouattara and Biya are the antithesis of this noble lineage, dragging their countries into stagnation and despair.
┃ Former President Thabo Mbeki once warned that leaders must not only serve with integrity but also have the courage to call out their peers when they stray from the truth. He urged leaders to be “truthful, transparent, and committed,” and insisted on frank accountability in governance.
The international community and global institutions are no innocent bystanders in this tragedy. Too often, governments, donors, and organisations prioritise “stability” and business interests over genuine democracy and human rights in Africa. They prop up autocrats like Ouattara and Biya with financial aid, diplomatic cover, and military support, ignoring the cries of their people. These international actors enable corruption and repression by turning a blind eye to manipulated elections and constitutional coups, as long as their strategic interests are preserved. This cynical double standard undermines Africa’s sovereignty and betrays the very citizens they claim to support.
The African Union, meanwhile, plays the role of enabler. It proclaims lofty ideals about democracy and human rights, yet remains a gentlemen’s club where leaders protect each other from accountability. When a president manipulates the constitution or rigs an election, the AU’s response is silence or empty statements. These same men are still welcomed at summits, photographed as elder statesmen, and treated as if they were builders of nations rather than dismantlers of democracy.
This hypocrisy must end. The AU must pass a binding continental law that punishes leaders who cling to power beyond constitutional limits. This law must include suspension from AU membership, asset freezes across member states, travel bans within Africa, and exclusion from all continental decision-making. Leaders who tamper with term limits should be treated as political outlaws, not respected heads of state.
┃ Tanzania’s founding father Julius Nyerere reminded us, “True leadership respects the will of the people and the limits of power. No leader has the right to override the constitution or deny a people their voice for personal gain.”
The cost of this greed is staggering. In Côte d’Ivoire, a generation of young leaders is locked out of the political process, forced to watch the same tired elite play the same cynical games. In Cameroon, an entire nation is trapped in slow-motion decline while its ruler lounges in European hotels. This is not about age it is about a toxic mindset that sees power as a personal birthright. There are elder statesmen who inspire and then step aside with dignity. Ouattara and Biya are not among them.
Africans must reject the poisonous myth that stability comes from keeping the same face in power. Real stability comes from strong institutions, genuine competition, and peaceful transfers of power. Citizens must demand iron-clad term limits that cannot be undone by a pen stroke. Civil society must pressure the AU to act, not merely talk, when democracy is under attack.
History is ruthless to men who confuse themselves with destiny. The world’s cemeteries are filled with leaders who once claimed they were indispensable. Ouattara and Biya will join them sooner than they think, but the damage they are doing now could outlive them if Africans do not act.
Africa does not need leaders who are dead yet refusing to die politically. It needs leaders who know how to lead, when to serve, and when to go. Until that becomes law, enforced by the AU and demanded by the people, the continent will remain hostage to yesterday’s men dragging tomorrow into the grave with them.