The Democratic Republic of the Congo has constantly been a source of confusion and frustration for analysts and laymen alike.

The central African country is blessed with a veritable treasure trove of natural resources including oil, timber, diamonds, gold, copper and several minerals such as tungsten and tantalum that have become immensely important on the world market due to their use in consumer electronics and cell phones.

Despite this abundance, the country remains one of the world’s poorest, with very little of its natural riches making their way to an impoverished populace.

One of the most frequently cited reasons for the state’s trouble is horrific governance.

In nearly all of the World Bank’s Governance Indicators the DRC ranks near the bottom of the world. In the critical “Government Effectiveness” category, the DRC was estimated to be in the first percentile, meaning 99 percent of the countries in the world have a more effective government.

The same is true for the DRC’s ranking in the Rule of Law category. Recently, instead of working to alleviate this horrific state of affairs, Congolese President Joseph Kabila seems intent on continuing the tradition of failed governance and the rule of men rather than the rule of law.

According to J. Peter Pham, the head of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, writing at The Hill, the country has improved somewhat under Kabila. The economy has been growing steadily at 6 percent annually, with an expected growth of 9 percent this year.

No economic trickle down

Unfortunately little of this growth has trickled down to the country’s poorest. The President has also welcomed a United Nations peacekeeping force that is not only the world’s largest, but also has a robust mandate, allowing for aggressive actions to prevent atrocity rather than the passive observation and defense mandates standard for blue helmets.

In 2005 Kabila himself presided over a referendum that would spawn a new constitution for the troubled state. This document gave hope to those who were tired of the rule of Kabila and his father by limiting the President to two terms in office.

Now, it appears that Kabila is attempting to change this provision and allow himself to seek a third term. In addition to the term limits, Article 220 of the Constitution specifies that “the number and length of the terms of office of the President of the Republic…may not form the object of a Constitutional amendment,” further demonstrating the importance of the term limits.

If Kabila is able to seek the office a third time there is little doubt he will retain the office.

In 2011 Kabila held onto the presidency in elections that, according to Pham, “were roundly criticized by official observers from the European Union and the Carter Center, and denounced as ‘treachery, lies, and terror’ by the DRC’s Roman Catholic bishops, whose nearly 40,000 trained poll watchers provided exhaustive evidence to back for the assertion…”

The international alarm at Kabila’s intention led US Secretary of State John Kerry to comment on them during his recent African tour. The Guardian reported that during a private meeting Kerry urged Kabila to hold elections on the agreed upon time frame, even offering $30 million USD for electoral assistance if the President does not seek re-election.

Kabila is not the first president on the continent to use questionable means to hang onto power past constitutionally mandated term limits.

In Zimbabwe just last year Robert Mugabe pushed through a new constitution that, for the first time, set term limits on the Chief Executive. However, these term limits specifically did not apply retroactively, affording the then 88 year old Mugabe two more five year terms in office, a de facto life term.

Africa’s life presidents club

According to noted constitutional scholars Tom Ginsburg, Zach Elkins and James Melton, the prevalence of such dictatorial reforms is immensely common across the continent. They write that “…just since 1990, term-limit reform (in the form of relaxing term limits) has been effected in Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Namibia, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.”

With such a tendency for extending constitutional term limits it is no wonder that the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has attempted to reward those that serve out their term and leave on time. Unfortunately the prize has been plagued by a lack of eligibility, due in large part to leaders across the continent staying past their constitutional mandated exit dates.

It is not merely the World Bank that recognizes the failures of the DRC. The 2013 United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index ranked the country dead last in human development, tied with Niger, a state that is almost completely devoid of natural riches.

The inability of government to provide even the most basic services has also led to the dreaded “failed state” title from many analysts, including the Fund for Peace’s 2013 Failed States Index.

Truly great politicians work to improve a state and the plight of their people.

In South Africa, Nelson Mandela worked to bridge the divide between apartheid and democracy without allowing for economic collapse or civil war and then stepped down when his constitutionally mandated term was over.

Unfortunately, for every Mandela on the continent there seem to be several leaders who would rather change the constitution than cede power. Kabila is proving himself to be a part of the latter category and it is the rule of law and good governance that will suffer in a country that is already significantly lacking in both.

Andrew Friedman is a human rights attorney and consultant who works and writes on legal reform and constitutional law with an emphasis on Africa. He can be reached via email at afriedm2@gmail.com or via twitter @AndrewBFriedman.