Paul Kagame gets legal backing to rule for another 19 years

Rwanda President, Paul Kagame has been given the legal support to rule for another 19 years, The East African newspaper reports.

According to the report, the country’s lawmakers have removed term limits, allowing the incumbent to rule the country for the next 19 years ending in 2034, if he decides to contest in 2017.

Kagame has been in power since 2000.

The lower house on Thursday October 26, 2015 approved a constitutional amendment allowing the 58-year-old President Kagame to run for a third seven-year term, after which he could run for two more terms of five years each.

The report notes that legislators approved a standalone Article 172 in the country’s draft constitution to allow President Kagame to rule the country for as long as he wishes.

After a nationwide tour by lawmakers sometime in July 2015 to gather the opinions of citizens on the term limit for the president, only 10 people were reported to have opposed the removal of the term limit.

Rwanda has a population of about 12 million.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi