Term limits and Nyantakyi’s pledge

As an ardent follower of social and political issues and events worldwide, one thing that I always have a problem with especially in political governance, is when leaders elected into office stay there for a long time particularly because of their insatiable taste for power.

Leadership is not possession. As I argued last Tuesday, some African leaders and their counterparts in third world countries often think of themselves as indispensable and that in their absence, nothing can be done. Thus if they are not disregarding constitutional dictates and amending laws that give them specific term limits, they will be rigging elections basically to elongate their grip of power.

But no matter how hard it is for power-drunk leaders either in politics or sports to bow out, time makes it possible for their tenure to end and after that, lessons are learnt sometimes through reforms. Since I turned 12 years and began following socio-political events, I have seen only two FIFA Presidents – the Brazilian Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange and Swiss – Joseph Sepp Blatter.

Havelange, a lawyer, businessman and former athlete reigned for 24years. He served as the 7th FIFA President from 1974 to 1998 being the second longest FIFA President in history. In fact, Havelange comes only behind Jules Rimet. Then there has been Sepp Blatter who after being re-elected recently, returned to announce that, he would be stepping down amidst bribery and corruption allegations.

Blatter’s end as FIFA President is months away but he’s been the head of FIFA since June 1998. Had it not been for his resignation, Blatter would have spent at least 20 years in office by 2018 and given my appreciation of democratic governance relative to elections and term limits, I have never understood why FIFA Presidents don’t rule with term limits especially in this era.

I agree that, in the case of FIFA, the argument has neither been about the President of the world football governing body overstaying in office nor has it been about him ignoring constitutional provisions. The argument has been about him not having term limits and that, in the case of a well-respected international organization operating in a modern day democratic setting, is unacceptable.

It doesn’t matter if FIFA isn’t alone in that scenario. The point is that, FIFA should embrace term limits for its President. That is why I find Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi’s pledge to lead the campaign for term-limit reforms appropriate. The term-limit issue has come up before but it was rejected. Now it appears a new wind is blowing and it could eventually lead to it being accepted.

On June 11 this year, the Brazilian Confederation of Football (CBF) after rejections in the past, voted to accept “a maximum of two four-year terms for its Presidents starting with elections in 2019”. Sepp Blatter has himself been talking about reforms which may include setting term limits for future FIFA President and just last Tuesday at the Tamale extraordinary Congress which handed him a new term of office, our FA President said he would be an advocate for term limits at the next FIFA Congress.

“Regarding specific reforms like term limits, I have no objection to that. The FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo and Zurich considered it and it was rejected and this time round most people have seen the need to re-introduce that and I will lead the crusade or campaign for such reforms to be introduced at FIFA, CAF and even at our national association level” said the GFA President.

It has to be pointed out that, setting term limits for football association’s presidents will not necessarily ensure an FA’s or indeed FIFA’s success. But the point has to be made that, in an era where advocacy groups have been imploring governments worldwide to introduce and respect democratic tenets regarding elections and term limits for example, an organization like FIFA should be first to adhere to the term limit advice.

Isn’t it ironic that, FIFA, (headquartered in Switzerland and with 209 member countries, most of whom have democratically elected governments with specific term-limits) govern countries whose governments exit after defined time-lines? The time for term limits to be set for future FIFA Presidents is now.