Univ. to Launch Residency Program
By Associated Press

March 17, 2002, 1:23 PM EST

BOSTON -- Boston University plans to launch a residency program for former
heads of state from Africa, a project that supporters say offers an exit
strategy for leaders in need of a way to leave their jobs gracefully.

"There is life after the presidency," said the Rev. Charles Stith, the
former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania who is spearheading the Balfour African
Presidents in Residence program.

Stith plans to bring a different African head of state to live at the school
every year, targeting the small pool of executives who were elected
democratically and agreed to step down from power. Beginning in September,
the school would provide a 12-month residency, an undisclosed stipend, a
light course load and speaking tours.

"Until you provide an exit strategy that gives ... a respectable way to make
a living, a way to say 'I will be able to meet people I knew in the past
without holding my head down,' then there are no incentives to give up
power," Georgetown professor Gwendolyn Mikell, a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations, told The Boston Globe.

The school's criteria would narrow the pool of eligible candidates.

"I would say there are not more than a handful of living African heads of
state who have voluntarily stepped down from power," said Edmond Keller,
director of the Globalization Research Center-Africa at UCLA.

High-profile, democratically elected former leaders such as Nelson Mandela
of South Africa and Ketumile Masire of Botswana are too busy.

And there are questions about the possibility of bringing figures with
troubled pasts to Boston.

"It might be perceived as a soft slap on the wrist after years of misrule,"
said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Africa at Human Rights Watch.

One former leader is Federick Chiluba of Zambia, who has become widely
despised after introducing an autocratic regime after his election,
harassing opponents and trying to change the constitution so he could hang
on to power longer. He has also been accused of corruption.

Another possible candidate, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, was hailed for
instituting democratic change, but is also being investigated for political
crimes he allegedly committed two decades ago when he took power in a
military coup.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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