Egypt and Sierra Leone prepare for polls as pressure builds on Zuma to leave

With next month’s elections in Sierra Leone and Egypt approaching, there has been a surge in activities in the two countries in the past few weeks.

While the former will hold general elections on March 7, Egypt will have a presidential poll between March 26 and 28.

However, the centre of interest is South Africa, which is set for the annual state of the nation address in Parliament. The Thursday event is one of the most important in the country’s political calendar.

This time, the occasion may well be President Jacob Zuma’s Waterloo. Among those the beleaguered president is pitted against are leaders of opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Democratic Alliance.

Respectively led by the fiery Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane, the parties have vowed to see to Zuma’s ouster before the state of the nation address.

OUSTER

Others involved in ensuring that Zuma exits the political scene long before the expiry of his final term next year are top executives in the recently reconstituted ruling African National Congress.

The party leaders were elected in the December convention that saw Zuma replaced as ANC president by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa.

These forces appear to be hell-bent on showing their clout by pulling the rug from under Zuma’s feet.

It does not help Zuma’s cause that he has over the years faced a plethora of corruption and other charges, including abetting state capture.

The accusations have piled up in recent times and have sullied his reputation. Next month’s elections, which are the first on the continent’s poll calendar, have already set the countries astir.

After long-drawn reluctance to pave way for new leaders, Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma finally threw in the towel.

BOYCOTT POLLS

He has tried all sorts of manoeuvres — including reshuffling his cabinet and detaining rivals — to defer his own exit or to anoint a preferred successor.

To his credit, though, Koroma has finally accepted that the polls have to be held as planned.

The ruling All People’s Congress has appointed foreign affairs minister Samura Kamara as his successor. Among his rivals will be Julius Maada Bio who challenged Koroma for in the 2012 poll on a Sierra Leone People’s Party ticket.

Unlike Sierra Leone, where the incumbent is already packing his bags, Egypt strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, 63, is determined to get re-elected. He has vowed to relinquish power after serving his two constitutional terms.

The opposition, however, says the poll will be a charade and has called on Egyptians to boycott it

That aside, should the bid to oust President Zuma succeed, he will be the second veteran leader to leave the stage this year after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She will be followed by Koroma.

Botswana’s Ian Khama, 64, will be next on March 31 when he hands over to his deputy Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Africa’s political landscape is evolving despite challenges.

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