The clip shows a speech by Mo Ibrahim, a businessman of Sudanese origin, who said the world was laughing at Africa for having presidents who were in their 90s.
Speaking at a forum on African leadership in the Rwandan capital of Kigali earlier this month, Ibrahim said that despite the majority of Africans below the age of 20, their presidents’ average age was 64.
“We are the only continent in the world where we have presidents at 90 years old starting new terms,” he said to laughter from the audience.
“I mean, are you guys crazy or what? We see people in wheelchairs, unable to raise their hands standing for elections.
“This is a joke,” he said. “Yes, you are right to laugh, because the whole world is laughing at us.”
Ibrahim has been known for promoting younger leaders for Africa. Since 2007, his “Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership” has rewarded African heads of state who democratically transferred power to their successors.
Ibrahim said even the United States with its economic might and nuclear power had been entrusted to leaders in their forties, including Barrack Obama, Bill Clinton and John F Kennedy.
“Why these big countries, much bigger than us, entrust their economies, their nuclear weapons and all resources to people who are in their 40s? And we only pick people at 90 years old to lead us,” he said.
“To lead us where? To the grave?”
Ibrahim’s remarks in the video are reminiscent of those by Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders including Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has often questioned the opposition’s choice of Mahathir as the candidate for prime minister.
Mahathir’s age again became a focus when he made a surprise appearance at a recent forum titled “Is Tun M Too Old To Be PM?”, where the former prime minister defended himself against critics who say he was not fit to head the government due to his age.