Presidential absolutism an affront to democracy

SECTION 98 of the Constitution states that: “While in office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his or her personal capacity.”

This means that the President has absolute immunity as long as he is the occupant of the Presidency and only ends when he ceases to be President.

If someone owes you and he assumes the Office of President before settling the debt, your legal remedies against him are suspended until such a time when he ceases to be the President.

If an investigation implicates the President for a crime committed before he was the occupant of the office, no legal proceedings can be instituted against him as long as he is still President.

Again, if the President commits a crime while in office, he continues with his duties uninterrupted and any legal proceedings likewise can only be instituted after he ceases to be the President.

Many African countries and countries worldwide adopted presidential immunity in their constitutions and it is often argued that the immunity is necessary to allow the President to exercise official discretion without distraction in light of enormous responsibilities.

It is also said to be necessary to protect the dignity of the Office of the President.

However, constitutionalism entails that all citizens are creatures of the law who are bound to obey and act in accordance with the law regardless of position or status.

Therefore, in this regard, presidential immunity is a slap in the face of constitutionalism since it puts the President above the law.

Instead of ensuring that the President respects the law of the land and has a personal liability to any violations of it, presidential immunity blatantly protects the violations by the same.

The Office of the President has so much power to the effect that it makes the President liable to breaking laws, therefore, the law must be strong enough to protect itself from such vulnerabilities and the best way is by treating the President as an equal legal subject who has personal liability to any violations of the law.

Constitutionalism is one of the most key components of democracy and any disregard of it is a wound on democracy.

It is said justice delayed is justice denied. Therefore, waiting for a term (five years) or two terms (10 years) is a gross denial of justice.

Moreso, the accused may commit crimes in order to prolong his/ her stay in power, which is the legal shield protecting them from any prosecution.

The presidential immunity may have a potential of creating dictatorship and life Presidents in that once one has committed crimes he/she will never want to relinquish power.

In that case, constitutions may be amended to increase or remove the presidential term limit if there are any and this has been witnessed in many countries such as Guinea and Burundi.

The presidential immunity may shield the President from grave crimes such as gross human rights abuses.

The late former President Robert Mugabe presided over gross human rights abuses, massacres to which even some of his former lieutenants have, on several occasions, given testimony to, but because of presidential immunity, he never set foot in a court of law in his entire rule of nearly four decades.

South Africa has been praised as being example of how countries can demonstrate their commitment to constitutionalism and accountability which are key pillars of democracy.

Their Constitution does not grant immunity to both serving and former Presidents. Former South African President Jacob Zuma spent much of his term embroiled in court battles over corruption and misuse of State funds.

Such a legal system has farreaching consequences on leaders’ accountability and the country’s democracy at large.

All African countries and the world at large should copy South Africa and dump presidential absolutism, which is a wound on democracy, resulting in a lot of economic bleeding and suffering. Amendment of section 98 of the Constitution is pertinent and should be a priority to the government of today.