RWANDA: US warns Kagame not to seek third as President

President Paul Kagame

Rwandan President Mr. Paul Kagame has been warned by the US not to amend the constitution of Rwanda to allow him stay on for a third term in office. He was advised that he should step down that he faces instability and uncertainty if he presses ahead with plans to change the constitution.

Mr Kagame was once hailed as part of a new generation of African leaders, helping usher in democracy after taking de facto power at the end of the country's bloody civil war in 1994. But in recent times he has been criticized repeatedly for stifling opposition, backing the conflicts in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo where more than five million people have died and trying to cling to power.

He recently set up a constitutional commission to review the country's two-term limit, after parliamentarians voted in favour of changing the constitution to allow him stay in power.

John Kirby, spokesman for the State Department, called on Mr Kagame to honour his previous commitment to respect term limits.

“We do not support those in positions of power changing constitutions solely for their political self-interest,” he said.