Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses sit-tightism in Africa, an undemocratic practice whereby an elected president refuses to leave office after his tenure of office has elapsed.This practice is against one of the cardinal tenets of democracy which is, term limits, always spelt out in a country's constitution.

Paper long abstract:

ABSTRACT

Democracy has no doubt gained currency among Africans as the best form of government but the extent to which the leaders bastardize its application is mind boggling and needs to be discussed for democratic consciousness among various stakeholders. It is against this backdrop that this paper undertakes to explore one of the anti-democratic trends in Africa's politics namely, sit-tightism, a phenomenon as well as a practice whereby an elected president uses suppression of the opposition and manipulation of the constitution to truncate his abdication of power after his constitutionally mandated term of office has elapsed and thereby stays put in office. This practice is against one of the cardinal tenets of democracy which is, term limits, always spelt out in a country's constitution. Using the historical analytical method as well as the realist/power theory approach, the paper explores the strategies employed in accomplishing this undemocratic phenomenon and discovers that the practice is a burden on democracy in Africa and also an affront on democratic consolidation as well as a nemesis to socio-economic and political development of affected nations in particular and the African continent in general. The paper recommends democratic consciousness among the citizenry as well as regional and global denouncement and sanctions against any nation involved as a deterrent.

Key words: Africa, constitution, democracy, sit-tightism and term limit.