New Book from the Nordic Africa Institute:

Legacies of Power
Leadership Change and Former Presidents in African Politics

Pages: 352 pp Published: December 2005
ISBN: 91-7106-558-X ISSN: Price: 240 SEK/ 16.95 GBP/ 24 EURO
Size: 210 x 148 mm
Co-publisher: HSRC Press, Cape Town

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It was a widely dominant perception until the early 1990’s that African rulers do not vacate their office alive. But even in the brutal reality of African politics, transition takes place and different former presidents have dealt with how to maintain power and privilege very differently. Presidential transitions pose a dilemma in handing over the power. Incumbent rulers often are confronted with the desire of the retired president not to leave politics. The chapters to this volume consequently pay special attention to the relationships evolving between the new regimes and their predecessors. The contributors discuss the hybridal political systems that exist in post-independence Africa; the role allotted to or pursued by former African presidents; transitional politics and justice, and political stability. The book stimulates careful further observation and analyses concerning progress in this contested arena of institutionalised political power in Africa.

Professor Roger Southall is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and was formerly Professor of Political Studies, Rhodes University and has also and researched in academic institutions and think-tanks in Lesotho, Uganda, the UK and Canada.

Dr Henning Melber headed from 1992 to 2000 the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek and was a member of the President's Economic Advisory Council. Since 2000 he is the Research Director at The Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden.

Contents

The contested role of former presidents in Africa - Roger Southall, Neo Simutanyi and John Daniel
Soldiering on: the post-presidential years of Nelson Mandela 1999-2005 - John Daniel
Unpacking the model: Presidential succession in Botswana - Ken Good and Ian Taylor
The contested role of former presidents in Zambia - Neo Simutanyi
The politics of ‘presidential indispensability’ in Namibia: Moving out of office but staying in power - Henning Melber
‘When I am a century old’: Why Robert Mugabe won’t go - David Moore
Toxic mushrooms: The presidential third term debate in Malawi - Sean Morrow
Politics and presidential term limits in Uganda - Roger Tangri
Immunity or accountabilty? Daniel Toroitich arap Moi: Kenya’s first retired president - Tom Wolf
Troubled visionary: Nyerere as a former president - Roger Southall
Rawlings’ former presidency: A threat to democracy in Ghana? - Kwame Boafo-Arthur
An army of ex-presidents: Transitions, the military and democratic consolidation in Nigeria - Sola Akinrinade
Despot deposed: Charles Taylor and the challenge of state reconstruction in Liberia - Daniel Hoffman

Review
"An excellent, uniquely valuable addition to the literature, rich in detail and dealing with profoundly significant issues. The collection will be not only of immense interest to Africanists, but also of great relevance across a broad spectrum of research disciplines. It makes a highly distinctive contribution to the genre of transition studies in the democratisation literature"
Prof. Peter Burnell, Dept. of Politics and International Studies at Warwick University, UK

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