GERONTOCRACY, THE TRAGEDY OF CAMEROON AND UGANDA
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GERONTOCRACY, THE TRAGEDY OF CAMEROON AND UGANDA
Across Africa, the language of democracy is loudly spoken, yet in practice, power often refuses to move with time. Few places illustrate this contradiction more starkly than Cameroon and Uganda, where leadership has hardened into what can only be described as gerontocracy, the rule of the very old over the very young.
Gerontocracy is not merely about age; it is about stagnation, entitlement, and a dangerous belief that leadership is a lifetime inheritance rather than a temporary trust. When old men sit tight in power for decades, refusing to yield space to younger minds, a nation does not merely pause; it begins to decay.
In Cameroon, Paul Biya has ruled since 1982. In Uganda, Yoweri Museveni has been in power since 1986. Together, these two men embody a troubling African paradox: leaders who once symbolized hope now preside over systems allergic to renewal.
Both countries have populations where the majority are under 30, yet political power is monopolized by men old enough to be their great-grandfathers. This is not wisdom guiding youth; it is age suffocating innovation.
Defenders of gerontocracy often hide behind the word experience. But experience without adaptability becomes irrelevant. Experience that refuses accountability becomes tyranny. A nation is not a museum meant to preserve leaders in glass cases while society outside collapses.
In Cameroon and Uganda, decades of uninterrupted rule have produced weak institutions dependent on personalities, elections reduced to rituals rather than choices, and youth excluded from decision-making yet blamed for unemployment and unrest.
When leadership becomes permanent, failure becomes normalized. Youth Locked Out, Nation Locked Down. Young people in both countries are energetic, educated, and globally aware. Yet they are governed by men whose political reflexes were formed during the Cold War. Laws are crafted to protect incumbents, not citizens. Constitutions are amended to extend tenure, not justice.
This is the tragedy: a generation with ideas is ruled by a generation clinging to memories. When young brains are shut out of leadership, frustration grows. Protest is criminalized. Migration becomes the dream. Risky journeys across deserts and seas begin to look more attractive than waiting endlessly for change at home.
Leadership is relay….NEVER A THRONE. Nature itself teaches succession. No tree refuses to shed old leaves so new ones can grow. Nations that prosper understand that leadership is a relay race, not a throne to be occupied until death.
Cameroon and Uganda are not poor because they lack resources or people. They suffer because power refuses to circulate. Gerontocracy turns the state into a private retirement plan for a few, funded by the patience of millions.
Time is the One Election That Cannot Be Rigged. History is unforgiving to leaders who confuse longevity with legitimacy. No amount of force, propaganda, or constitutional manipulation can stop time. The question is not whether power will change hands, but how, peacefully through inclusion, or violently through collapse.
Cameroon and Uganda still have a choice. But that choice begins with a simple truth: a nation that refuses to renew its leadership is preparing its own funeral.
Nze Ukwu Ugezu J. Ugezu Writes
Ayaka Igbo Gburugburu
#Uganda #Cameroon #africa #politics #hope
