The
African continent has for ages been referred to as the continent of disease,
darkness, despair and death besides the description as the land of
backwardness. All these have been as a result of the myriad problems and
challenges that we have experienced and witnessed many of which we have been
unable to come up with viable and amicable solutions. Although some of the
problems experienced in Africa are unintended, a good number of them are due to
the weak and retrogressive form of leadership that we have gone through over
the decades of the African independence.
A
pertinent question that we ought to ask our inner-selves is why majority of the
African countries are not taking-off economically despite formulating economic
plans and strategies that have always given hope to the masses about the
expected and foreseen socio-economic heaven in the name of development. The
failure to make great strides and tangible efforts in the trio-developmental
aspects of politics, social issues and economic issues can be clearly traced to
the inept kind of leadership that has and continues to bedevil most of the
African nations.
It
should be taken into account, however, that some of the African countries have
at least had a paradigm shift in the manner in which they have re-approached
their governance systems. In enacting their turn-around governance strategies,
they have resolved most importantly to deal with the cancerous issue of graft.
Such notable countries include Botswana under the leadership of President Khama
Ian Khama, the one and only chief of the Bamangwato people and Rwanda under
President Paul Kagame. Albeit other challenges, these countries have dealt with
corruption and have hence witnessed a significant reduction of it within their
borders.
There is
certainly a lesson to be learnt and a leaf to be borrowed from such countries.
I have a strong conviction and an undying belief that once corruption is checked
and reduced to very minimal levels then development will spawn. If the top
leadership shows commitment in fighting graft then majority of the patriotic
citizens will join in the movement to stem out corruption. In my own opinion, we
cannot expect to wipe out the juggernaut that is corruption from the bottom.
Instead I advocate that a top-bottom approach is suitable whereby the leaders
at the helm of the government lead the onslaught against corruption.
The
existence of pariah states and banana republics in Africa can also be
attributed to the ethnic divisions that are practiced by most of the African
leaders. To be specific, negative ethnicity was the root cause of the violence
witnessed in South Sudan from December 2013 pitting the Dinka and the Nuer communities. This was
the factor that escalated the post-election violence that was witnessed in
Kenya in 2007/08. We claim to be patriots living and belonging to one nation
but when a tribe is mentioned somewhere we feel uncomfortable with frowning
faces all over. If we embrace our ethnic differences positively, then we are
sure of forging ahead as a united Africa. Leaders should never ever jeopardize
unity by uttering ethnic sentiments that are directed towards segregating one
ethnic group against the other.
The
incorrigible and illiberal mindsets of most of the leaders and their sycophants
continue to dent the progress of Africa towards greatness and prosperity. In
countries that have embraced democracy, why should one person mutilate the
constitution for him to continue exercising his ruling? Or why should people
engage in rigging to continue staying in power? Or worst of it all, why should
an individual master-mind the assassination of his antagonist so as to cut-off
political competition? All the preceding rhetorical questions simply connote
the utmost disregard of the democratic principles that the ‘democratic’
governments purport to champion and support. The pretence that some African
countries practice democracy is the nightmare that continues to eclipse our
progress and falsify our actions of realizing a brighter future. If democracy
has failed, why don’t we come up with alternative forms of governance that will
clip the possible dictatorial wings and tendencies and create an environment
where all the citizens are assured of progress socially, politically and
economically?
The
future of Africa lies in our own hands. The future of our continent has always
been labeled as being bright. Despite Africa registering an annual economic
growth of 5% per annum, a lot needs to be done in order to make brightness a
reality in the darkness that we have all along been associated with. Hence, the
African future is dependent upon several factors some of which I have
elaborated below.
Is there
need for having very long political regimes with leaders who view themselves as
alpha and omega? Such leaders have created a fallacy and have choreographed a
myth that they are demigods associated with immortality and they are hence
poised to rule for eternity. My argument is that having relatively shorter terms for the political
leadership gives room for fresh ideas which can be wholly transformative. The
Mugabes, Eyademas, Biyas, Musevenis of Africa should relinquish power so as to
give room for other oppressed leaders to rule and exercise their leadership.
The
African Union should rise above mediocrity and adopt a strategy that is
straight-forward in championing for the economic emancipation of Africans.
Recently, the African Union, AU, has been calling for the mass exodus of the
African states as parties to the Rome Statute that was prime in the formation
of the International Criminal Court, the ICC. If at all the states that are
leading the withdrawal of African nations from the Rome Statute are claiming
that there is interference by the main financing countries in the conduct of
the affairs of the ICC, then they should be informed that the proposed African
Court of Justice will be interfered with since majority of the AU funding is
from the European countries and the USA. In a nutshell, the AU should review
its objectives and formulate a strategy that will turn-around the economic
fortunes of Africa instead of claiming pyrrhic victory against the ICC. The AU
should embrace leadership that has the ability and capability of transforming
Africa. So what about electing Robert Mugabe as the AU chair? This is failure
hood.
Knowing
our rights as the led and the ruled is important in re-engineering our
development trajectory as a continent. There is this thing that makes me
uncomfortable all the time and this is the sheer and mere ignorance that is
displayed by most of the Africans. We do not understand most of our rights that
are enshrined in the constitution. We have a culture of waiting for the leaders
to tell us what next instead for us dictating to them what they must do for us.
We are the ones who elect our leaders and hence they are supposed to prioritize
our demands and needs that are a sure-fire for tangible development.
Restructuring
our governance systems is non-negotiable if we are to have strong institutions
that promote social, political and economic development. We need to have strong
and independent anti-corruption institutions, we need to put in place impartial
judicial systems that promote the rule of law, a robust police service that is
able to execute its mandate and duties without being compromised among other
governance structures, systems and institutions.
In
conclusion, we should not give up in our bid to right all the wrongs committed
by our past and current crop of leaders. We must voice our concerns for the right
course. We need to tell the African story the African way and provide solutions
that will propel our continent towards prosperity.
