“Leadership is a way in which people change the minds of others and move organizations forward to accomplish identified goals. Leadership is also the ultimate act which brings to success all of the potent potential that is in an organization and its people”. Bernard Chestner (1938 P-11)).
The issue of leadership in Africa
today is getting out of hand, even in these modern times leaders still afford
to behave aggressively, unjustly, undemocratic and disrepective to the
constitution. The leadership culture in Africa is about acquiring more power,
more influence and resources at all costs
and at the expense of the masses. Access to resources is by a small
group of people, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening everyday.
The region is increasingly drowning in its problems; war crimes, corruption,
impunity, poverty this is the picture Africa portrays to the out side world
There is one common thing about the
cries of all African countries due to poor governance, that is the persistent
problem of corruption, conflict be it civil or cross- border, the young people
are directly involved. As young as they are, they are only victims of
circumstances burdened by the despair of these challenges and yet they are also
largely untapped sources of social change and transformation. Good leadership
should be participative and be able to transform potential into reality.
Although there are various leadership
styles and types I shall focus on the type that in my view seems most suitable
and appropriate in the African situation. Participative leadership style is ideal
and leaders should adopt it. It assumes that there is involvement of all
parties in the decision-making which improves the understanding of the issues
involved by those who carry out the decisions. This leadership style has been
exercised and practiced in democratic states, where fairness, justice and
participation of everyone are respected values the time is now and each of us
can do something, I believe that investing in the youth with leadership skills,
good African values is not only the future but also the now.
The African
perspective on leadership
The original concept of Leadership in
Africa was understood as a collective process, where everyone was invited to
discuss issues and also agreed on solutions together. A leader was exemplary,
worked for and with people and if a leader misused his position he was severely
punished. leadership faced challenges like; lack of independent institutions,
written policies, misrepresentation, groups like women, children were not
represented but human values such as respect, honesty, integrity and trust were
strictly respected.
The world view of Africa’s concept of
leadership today varies from the universal view of leadership elsewhere. It’s
been based on negative connotations such as; tribe, ethnicity and religion. This
explains why most African governments’ have witnessed many coups, revolutionary
attempts, civil unrest, ethnic violence and tensions across the continent.
Since post-independence1960s
leadership has changed, Africa’s leadership style has been manifested by
dictatorial and despotic regimes where leaders who have over stayed in power
use their influential positions for personal gain, while the masses suffer
severe deprivations and human rights abuses.
On the other hand the youth have taken
center stage; their exposure to global lifestyle through modern social media can
possibly influence their leadership style, which is more accommodating and
inclusive in terms of informed decision making. The need to be mentored with
good leadership skills and human values, social media can be used as a forum to
influence positive social change and transformation the youth are the now and
future leaders.
Meanwhile the universal understanding
of leadership is that the principles of justice, fairness are pre conditions
for good governance and that the majority are empowered and can make informed
decisions. Africa still has a long way to go because the problems of Africa are
connected to poor leadership. It’s necessary that we mention the challenges
leadership in Africa faces and also putting in mind that the challenges cannot
be explained as a single point, but as a sequence of related issues.
Challenges
leadership in Africa Face
Security is a major concern to the
region. Everyone has the right to safety of life and property and if it is in
jeopardy then security across the region is at stake. The common explanation of
violence is rooted in poverty. However experience teaches us that violence and
criminal activities cut across all political, social-economic aspects of
society. The existence of militia
groups, terrorist, radicalization for instance across the region is not only a
threat to leadership but to the entire region.
Weak institutions and poor policies,
most institutions in Africa governments are run with poor rules and procedures,
and run not based on merit but favoritism instead of delegating
responsibilities to qualified staff. The practice of nepotism is an
overwhelming challenge to leadership in Africa. These institutions failed to fight
corruption, impunity and curb issues of insecurity thus the growing insecurity
problem and insecurity.
Bad governance and corruption characterized by
long serving dictators with the worst performing record in every respect are
some of these leadership challenges These also leading in corruption in Africa
are; Mugabe of Zimbabwe, (years), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (years), Museveni of
Uganda, Bashir of Northern Sudan, despite efforts by the international
community to oust them, there has not been any success to that effort. There
are also African countries that have demonstrated democracy and good governance
some of these countries are Ghana and Kenya, these countries on the continent
have evidently represented Africa in Economic growth and political tolerance.
Africa’s leadership shares a common
ground of problems like, poverty, diseases, political instability, lack of
basic infrastructure and the unwillingness or inability of leaders to execute
policies which propagate good governance. There is cause - effect relationship between
bad governance, corruption and the problems affecting the region.
What has been done?
Although some collective effort to
fight the persistent problem of corruption has been evident by Africa’s
governments, these efforts have been thwarted by the weak policies and
institutions in place. It’s also good news to know that African leaders now
understand that accountability and transparency are necessary preconditions to
achieve good leadership, the commissions put in place so that leaders who abuse
office be accountable to the citizens.
Network for Economic Program Africa Development
(NEPAD) has taken an initiative to involve Africa at the global level, through
international investment to achieve the millennium goals. NEPAD should tap the
potential in the young generation; empowering them economically, through
leadership mentoring skills. Give young people leadership responsibilities even
at the board management level.
Most of these initiatives have trained
and mentored young people in leadership skills, but strong follow-up mechanisms
after such trainings to know what and
how they are utilizing the skills acquired have been lacking. Follow up
mechanism should be put in place, to find out whether skills are utilized and
if any opportunity arises to ensure these young people are taken in by these
initiatives.
The East African Community has taken
on regional integration as the way forward in attaining peace and security in
the region and in the future attains stainable development. This is an
opportunity for African countries’ to mobilize other countries in solidarity to
solve their own problems. The international community should only provide
strong support to the struggle but Africans should take the lead position to
resolve their own problems, through their own institutions, policies and staff.
Action/recommendations
The need to replace
monotonous traditional understanding of leadership and try to adopt new
paradigms of leadership in relation to Africa’s situation. Leadership should be
understood in these aspects-particularly when empowering young people in
leadership skills. That leadership should be understood as;
- a process, should include all stake holders
- There must be influence, should be able to transform potential into reality
- Occur in group context
- Involve goal attainment
The population in Africa
takes covers quarters of the Africa’s population, there is untapped potential,
Investing in young generation would be politically, economically and socially
would be my second priority.
Put up independent
structures and right policies to fight corruption. Independent institutions
like the judicial system, experienced staff and monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms that should be designed to provide checks and balances.
Take regional integration
seriously by not delaying but support its implementation. When it comes to
security independent countries cannot fight this problem at national level,
because security is a global problem and therefore there is need for collective
global responsibility and action. Africa also needs solidarity and joined
effort to address her own problems, this kind of initiative is good forum to
address our problems.
Safety must be guaranteed
to all and therefore should begin at our homes and communities, the “Nyumba kumi”
an initiative by the Kenyan government is a good effort and would enforce it.
People at all levels of society should be educated on its benefits so that they
can embrace; it’s a way of addressing security at small levels. Safety starts
from where you are, it’s an African concept but can be implemented to fight
insecurity.
Affirmative action that
ensures the poor and marginalized are empowered through initiatives, such as
leadership mentor ship kills, entrepreneurship and access to financial grants
with moderate conditions. Empowering people means setting them free from severe
deprivations that affect their decision-making process in life.
The problem of impunity and
weak institutions can be addressed by implementing the constitution, that treats
everyone equally, equal distribution of resources and is against the culture of
impunity.
Leadership in Africa is
faces a lot of challenges and the time to achieve good leadership is now. Good governance and constitution are related,
abuse of the constitution is like opening doors to conflict and abuse of power
at all levels of society and therefore it’s
time to educate our people on these two
concepts particularly the youth in all aspect of life.
Nevertheless it’s important to appreciate
the diversity within the African rich heritage, culture in terms of human
values, and therefore if tapped can be used to influence positive leadership
skills and styles, so we can have a true African concept and perspective of
leadership.
