Addicted to power, leaders hold on whatever the cost

An astonishing statistic was made public in Rwanda this week. Parliamentarians, who embarked on nationwide consultations on proposed constitutional changes that would allow President Paul Kagame to stand for a third term, found only 10 people opposed to the idea. Rwandans owe much to Kagame, who has led the country since 2003 and whose Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels launched an offensive in 1994 that ended the genocide that killed about 800000 people, mostly Tutsis.