Re: [Ugnet] Term Limits: Case for rethink

[Hello!]

One may ask the equally "myopic" writer why, Roosevelt was the only US 
President who had the 4 terms? And why was the two-term limit imposed after 
him? Let  us carry the "being unique

" to its logical conclusion: invent our own business suits, invent new modes of 
transportation, etc. 

Non-term limit is not a new invention: there have been kings who ruled for 
life. Moreover, incumbency gives the incumbent unfair advantage, especially in 
a world where many are illiterate and uninformed. 

Neither is term limit a new phenomenon: Greece, Ancient Rome and Roman Republic 
used it in one form or another.
  
Odiya 

The Liberal Manifesto 
 
UgandaPlays

OdiyaTalks  

Acoli Sensation

Classic Congolese Music




 



From: Mitayo Potosi 
To: The First Virtual Network for friends of Uganda  
Sent: Friday, June 7, 2013 12:40 PM
Subject: [Ugnet] Term Limits: Case for rethink

Term limits: Case for a rethink
1 
Friday, 07 June 2013 00:12  
1 Comment and 0 Reactions 
Baffour Ankomah
On a recent trip to the USA, I was awakened to the serious damage that we, 
Africans, have done to ourselves by copying blindly the term limits we impose 
on our leaders just so we are in alignment 
with what the Americans and the Europeans do, even though conditions in their 
countries and our countries are totally different.
Thinking about it, as I sat in a minibus travelling from Lowell in 
Massachusetts back to New York City, a 4-hour journey, my mind went to the 
exploits of Winston Churchill, Britain’s prime minister of the World War II 
years, and wondered if Africa cannot learn something from some of the good 
things he said and did, or even from how other countries behaved, and still 
behave, in the face of adversity, and adapt it to suit our local conditions.
Before my trip to the USA, I had been reading the entry on Churchill in the 
revised version of the book, Speeches that Changed the World, published by 
Quercus of Bloomsbury Square, London, and I was held spellbound by Churchill’s 
single-mindedness and strong determination not to accept defeat even when 
defeat was standing right in front of him, eyeball to eyeball.
And this was a man, who earlier on in his political career, had felt 
intellectually inferior to many of his peers because he did not go to 
university.
Yet, rather than sit down and moan about his condition (as many of us are wont 
to do), Churchill, who had a slight lisp and a stammer, visited speech 
therapists and practised words and gestures in front of a mirror to enhance his 
speech-making prowess.
According to the book, Churchill “sometimes spent weeks constructing speeches, 
refining and improving them, and he came up with a style that was unique. His 
vocabulary was extremely large, filled with inventive word play, alliteration, 
vivid imagery and metaphor.” Humble reader, please mind the phrase: “He came up 
with a style that was unique”, for I will come back to it later.
Churchill was first elected to Parliament in 1900. His moment came 40 long 
years later when on May 10 1940, with Hitler’s troops at the gate of the Low 
Countries, the then British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, whose earlier 
peace pact with Hitler had shattered his reputation in Britain, recommended to 
King George VI that Churchill become the new prime minister.
The man with the slight lisp and stammer felt as though, as he put it later, 
“all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour”.
Three days later, in his first speech to the House of Commons as prime 
minister, Churchill set the goalposts: “I say to the House as I said to 
ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, 
toil, tears and sweat.
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, 
many, months of struggle and suffering. “You ask, what is our policy? I say it 
is to wage war by land, sea, and air.
War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage 
war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable 
catalogue of human crime.
That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word.
It is victory. Victory at all costs — victory in spite of all terrors — 
victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no 
survival.”
Then as the War went on, and the British ally, France, was losing battle after 
battle, and it became clear that the British Isles would not be able to resist 
a German invasion, Churchill dramatically roused his fellow Britons by telling 
them: “If this long island of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each 
of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.”
Perhaps Churchill’s greatest speech by a country mile came when the War had 
become much tougher for Britain as Germany chalked one victory after another. 
With his nation facing mortal danger, Churchill felt obliged to stir British 
passions n

[Ugnet] Term Limits: Case for rethink

[Mitayo Potosi]

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  Friday, 07 June 2013 00:12
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*Baffour Ankomah*
On a recent trip to the USA, I was awakened to the serious damage that we,
Africans, have done to ourselves by copying blindly the term limits we
impose on our leaders just so we are in alignment

with what the Americans and the Europeans do, even though conditions in
their countries and our countries are totally different.

Thinking about it, as I sat in a minibus travelling from Lowell in
Massachusetts back to New York City, a 4-hour journey, my mind went to the
exploits of Winston Churchill, Britain’s prime minister of the World War II
years, and wondered if Africa cannot learn something from some of the good
things he said and did, or even from how other countries behaved, and still
behave, in the face of adversity, and adapt it to suit our local conditions.

Before my trip to the USA, I had been reading the entry on Churchill in the
revised version of the book, Speeches that Changed the World, published by
Quercus of Bloomsbury Square, London, and I was held spellbound by
Churchill’s single-mindedness and strong determination not to accept defeat
even when defeat was standing right in front of him, eyeball to eyeball.

And this was a man, who earlier on in his political career, had felt
intellectually inferior to many of his peers because he did not go to
university.

Yet, rather than sit down and moan about his condition (as many of us are
wont to do), Churchill, who had a slight lisp and a stammer, visited speech
therapists and practised words and gestures in front of a mirror to enhance
his speech-making prowess.

According to the book, Churchill “sometimes spent weeks constructing
speeches, refining and improving them, and he came up with a style that was
unique. His vocabulary was extremely large, filled with inventive word
play, alliteration, vivid imagery and metaphor.” Humble reader, please mind
the phrase: “He came up with a style that was unique”, for I will come back
to it later.

Churchill was first elected to Parliament in 1900. His moment came 40 long
years later when on May 10 1940, with Hitler’s troops at the gate of the
Low Countries, the then British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, whose
earlier peace pact with Hitler had shattered his reputation in Britain,
recommended to King George VI that Churchill become the new prime minister.

The man with the slight lisp and stammer felt as though, as he put it
later, “all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour”.

Three days later, in his first speech to the House of Commons as prime
minister, Churchill set the goalposts: “I say to the House as I said to
ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but
blood, toil, tears and sweat.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us
many, many, months of struggle and suffering. “You ask, what is our policy?
I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air.

War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to
wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and
lamentable catalogue of human crime.

That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word.

It is victory. Victory at all costs — victory in spite of all terrors —
victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there
is no survival.”

Then as the War went on, and the British ally, France, was losing battle
after battle, and it became clear that the British Isles would not be able
to resist a German invasion, Churchill dramatically roused his fellow
Britons by telling them: “If this long island of ours is to end at last,
let it end only when each of us lies choking in his own blood upon the
ground.”

Perhaps Churchill’s greatest speech by a country mile came when the War had
become much tougher for Britain as Germany chalked one victory after
another. With his nation facing mortal danger, Churchill felt obliged to
stir British passions not to give up.

“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have
fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odi