PIERRE Nkurunziza is one of Africa’s least known dictators. The 10-year ruler of Burundi wants another five years. His ambition has upset the fragile peace instituted after a brutal 13-year civil war between Tutsi and Hutu. People are protesting another Nkurunziza tenure, a coup was staged against him on Wednesday.

Even if he returns to power, his ambition has complicated the politics of Burundi, which rested more on the understanding that power, positions, and opportunities would be shared to reflect the pluralities of Burundi. Nkurunziza argues that parliament elected him for his first tenure, so it would not count. The Constitutional Court supports him. Should he not leave office for the sake of Burundi?

Only last year, Burkinabe Blaise Compaore, then 63, after 27 years, wanted another five-year term. If he succeeded, he would have spent almost half his life as the ruler of Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, whose misfortunes have benefitted from stalled leadership.

Angry Burkinabes ejected Compaore from power, but the chaos that his forced departure caused is not new. African countries with long-lasting dictatorships remain in ruination after the demi-gods leave. Cote d’Ivoire has not fully recovered 23 years after the death of former President Felix Houphouët-Boigny, its first president. He ruled for 33 years.

Benin, Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda are some countries with sit-tight leaders. Nkurunziza should have learnt from Niger’s Mamadou Tandja who the army evicted in 2010 following his third-term bid. Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade lost the 2012 election after changing the constitution to run for a third term.

Paul Biya, 81, Cameroun’s President, perennially in France tending his health, has been President for 33 years. He was Prime Minister for seven years. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Zimbabwe, 91, his country’s only President in its 35 years, has his wife as possible successor.

Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki (22), Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos (36), Chad’s Idriss Deby (25), and Uganda’s Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (29) are among African sit-tight dictators.

Even if Nkurunziza thinks he is the best President for Burundi, the fact remains that his ambition could return the country to the war that cost more than 300,000 lives and left a vastly divided polity.

Like Zimbabwe, where inflation has hit incalculable heights, with scarcity of everything from food to fuel, Burundi is in economic straits. Nkururnziza’s claims to building schools do not address them.

Nkurunziza, just 51, has been accused of repressive measures to reserve the presidency for himself. Other African dictators apply the same tactics. The world should assist Burundi out of its quagmire,instead of waiting for another war.

We condemn undemocratic leadership changes, and leaders who make them inevitable.