Unwanted guests.

Of course he would want a third term. In neighbouring Rwanda, the people are the ones spearheading the demands for the incumbent to stay. He has neither accepted nor rejected the proposals saying only that the will of the people will decide his fate. In Uganda, they did away with term limits all together; he has done a bang up job since he shot his way to power. It is the only thing he has done since he stepped out of the bush. He just can't seem to let it go.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, matters seem to be extremely fluid as the incumbent's term runs out while in Ethiopia no one seems to be talking about term limits any more. South Sudan and Somalia remain basket-cases and the Sudan just overwhelmingly endorsed the incumbent to the tune of 97.5% of the votes. (The 0.5% was a nice touch.)

The only ones who seem to accept term limits with good grace in our neck of the woods are the guys to the south. We have accepted them with ill-disguised contempt and you can see that some see an opportunity in the Burundian imbroglio. To their canny way of thinking, if the Burundians can get it done without turning their capital into a bombed-out parking lot, that might not be a high price for pushing for an end to term limits.  It is the political Holy Grail of certain types who seem to live under the illusion that they will live forever and, consequently, they should rule forever.

It is a bit difficult to remind old school dictators that the old ways are over when you have the likes of the Kims (I wonder if this Kim has an heir) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or Putin of the Russian Federation, or the Gnassingbe of Togo, Museveni in Uganda, Bashir in the Sudan or Mugabe in Zimbabwe seemingly welded to their seats. But they are indeed, over. In Burundi are the kicks of a dying horse and as soon as the last of our old school tinpot autocrats kick the bucket, an era in Africa will have come to an end.

He doesn't care that he has been a disaster for his country. By all accounts, his countrymen are better off than when they were during the civil war, but they are not enjoying the benefits of the peace dividend either as he and his cronies are. He will not go quietly; his ego won't let him and he is prepared to burn down the whole place if it means he can hang one just a little bit longer. He is the guest who refuses to leave long after the hosts have gone off to bed, the music has been turned off, the kitchen has been shut and the lights switched off. Pity.