As democracy begins to take shape in Africa, there are more African heads of state who are leaving office voluntarily. However, there appears to be no comprehensive program to prepare former African heads of state to leave office and be engaged meaningfully. This leaves former African heads of state in a dilemma as they do not know what to do with their spare time and lots of energy. This is why many African heads of state are clinging to power, and do not know what to do once they leave office. The fear of the unknown is palpable. At Boston University, there is the African Presidential Lecture Series Program, which seeks to prepare African leaders for life after office. The former African Presidents and Prime Ministers are engaged in a series of lectures in the US Universities, after which they return home.
However, in African Universities, there is no such program. The former Presidents and Prime Ministers could in fact teach and become visiting scholars, where they can impact the same knowledge to future African leaders. Through such a platform, African students will get to know why the leaders made certain choices, and what motivated these choices. This will be a great way to ensure that the young African leaders are prepared for the future.
There has to be a way that former African heads of state are kept busy. For instance, former Mozambique President Joachim Chissano has been instrumental in advocating for peace in Sudan, while former Tanzanian President was instrumental in bringing peace to Kenya during the 2007/08 post election violence. We need more of such initiatives in Africa, so that former African heads of state are kept busy, and in the same breadth, impart their rich knowledge and experience to future African leaders.
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