The current Chairperson (president Faure Gnassingbé) of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been in power for many years (2005) in his country, Togo. He took over power from his father who also ruled the country (Togo) for almost 40 years before his death. Togo as a country is managed like a family business, from father to son but now the citizens of the country (Togo) have realized that they have been marginalized for such a long period of time and would want to embrace true democracy which is government of the people and not government of the family which led to series of protests across the country (Togo). Viewers Corner News correspondent learned recently that lives were lost because the government controlled armed forces of Togo used excessive force on those that were protesting, calling on president Faure Gnassingbé to step down for the good of the country (Togo) and since then, no African leader has ever condemn such act of brutality against the innocent people of Togo who would want a true democratic system of government practised in their country (Togo). Again with such president in power, how can Togo and the continent of Africa move forward? However, our (Viewers Corner News team) advice to African leaders is this, gone are those days in Africa when a leader will eat his cake and still have it. The world is passing through transformation and with the existence of information technology, people’s eyes are no longer closed. Time is fast fading for African leaders to keep on pushing their citizens up and down like they did in the past.This time around, it is a different situation and when the trouble starts like we have seen in Togo, those leaders and their entire families may get hurt badly. What Viewers Corner News and the advisory team is trying to point out here is that African leaders should review their system of leadership and put it on check. Obey the constitution of your various countries. Provide all the good things of life for the citizens of your countries using the available resources within your country to put things right. Eradicate corruption or reduce it to the lowest level. Create employment for the people of your various countries. Selfishness and I must remain in power forever kind of attitude should be avoided. Practise true democracy by voting credible individuals to power as specified by the constitution of your various countries and when you are there, work to better the lives of people of your countries which is the importance and benefit of democracy. As soon as your tenure ends, please leave. Do not manipulate the system to keep you in power more than what the constitution of your country allowed. If all these are carefully followed, then Africa as a continent stand a better chance of moving to the next level. Again president Faure Gnassingbé of Togo should hear the cry of his people and step down. Being the Chairperson of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) when you can not manage the crisis in your country (Togo) lacks merit. Such leader has nothing to offer to the West African community, therefore a review of the Charter which established the organization is very necessary at this point in time. Please act now because tomorrow may be too late.
Source: Viewers Corner News.