The issues that surround good governance and sound leadership in Africa although diverse and numerous basically revolve around ideologies- what set of ideas a government or leadership values. More often than not, a government is faced by questions about which path to follow: should it be capitalism, socialism, democracy, autocracy or monarch? Frequently those who have chosen the wrong path have met a lot of complications in their reign.
Primarily, there is a conflict between the responsibilities of a government in an economy. Whilst the business sector would be striving to make profit, the poor in the society would be striving to afford the basics. So at the end of the day the government is faced by the problem of how it can protect the people against the machinations of the rich at the same time allowing for business to prosper. This now boils down to whether it should be socialism or capitalism.
Whilst capitalism is mainly characterized by a free market, where economic forces determine the price of a commodity; socialism is mainly characterized by a controlled market where prices of certain commodities or services are controlled for all to afford. In Africa, where the majority of the people are poor, it becomes a responsibility of governments to ensure that the people can afford these basics which include food, water, shelter, health and education. At the same time governments are faced with issues of stimulating production and trade; thus at the end of the day it requires acumen to strike a balance.
Unfortunately, African countries have had a good share of leaders who lack compassion and wisdom to balance these responsibilities. Many leaders have become part of syndicates to reap their countries of returns resulting in the rulers amassing personal fortunes at the expense of the country. This has happened through a conspiracy between the rich and the government, typical examples being Mobutu Sese Seko and Charles Taylor of Liberia.
There are also certain countries where the need to sustain reign has superseded the need to ensure productivity; such that a government becomes irresponsible to the extent of using finite national resources to campaign for power. This is typically a case in Zimbabwe where a government is going out of its way to hysterically redistribute every resource in the name of citizen empowerment. Although some of these policies are good for the common citizens; the biggest challenge that the countries face is that of leadership within a government who during the day a champions of citizen empowerment but during the night mutate into sole beneficiaries of the same policies at the expense of the people.
In some instances; Africa being so depended on international aid has been forced to follow the prescriptions of the so-called donors without pausing to think if this would be in line the dictates of social empathy. For example, many economic packages have been accompanied by stringent requirements of liberalization of the economy and limited government subsidy. These have been the demands of New Partnership of Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and also the Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP) implemented in Zimbabwe in the early 90’s.
So this issue of capitalism versus socialism requires a leadership that has intelligence, wisdom, compassion and patriotism to balance and articulate.
Africa also is faced by a challenge of type of rule. Whilst democracy is viewed as the best type of rule and defined loosely as ‘the rule of the people, for the people, by the people’; Africa has noticed an increase in the number of dictatorships and other forms of rule that defy the norms of democracy.
Whilst many countries in Africa are considered democracies or moving towards that such there has been little appreciation of the fact that democracy entails competition for power. In a democracy competition for power is shown through the ballot, with whoever winning the elections taking the office ahead of the loser. Unfortunately, there are cases where competition for power has been taken outside the ballot usually with fatal consequences. A recent example is Kenya, where more than a thousand people died in political clashes. The clash a few years ago in Madagascar is another good example.
More commonly though has been the tendency by incumbent leadership to use state machinery to fend off competition for power. This has resulted in many competitors resorting to the use of force or other means to usurp power, like in the case of Laurent Kabila who used war as a means and Ravalomanana of Madagascar who used public disobedience as a tool. In Zimbabwe, the army, police and militias are used to sustain ZANU PF hegemony.
In many African countries citizen participation in issues of governance is limited to the electoral processes only. Whilst it would be appreciated that in a democracy citizen participation is important especially in the formulation of national policy very few governments have opened up the space for freedom of association and expression. One country that has managed to harness the people in its government is Botswana where leadership takes time to give feedback and get views of the people in the different chieftainships (dikgotla). The result has been a fluid society with less suspicion.
In a democracy, there are certain basic rights which are guaranteed under international law which the state cannot take away. These include the right to say and write what one likes, the right to associate and many others. However, there are many governments that are failing to respect these rights resulting in persecution and murder of innocent people. Ken Saro Wiwa, a writer from Nigeria was executed during the reign of Gen Sani Abacha for expressing his views. Ngugi wa Thiongo lived in exile during the rule of Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya and we have seen people like Lovemore Madhuku being assaulted in Zimbabwe for exercising their right to express themselves. These reflect badly on the type of governance we have in Africa.
Democracy is a system of rule by laws and not individuals thus the rule of law is also important in a democracy. Every citizen should be equal before the law. There are certain instances in African countries where governments do not respect the rule of law; where certain individuals are spared from prosecution just because of their status in society or government whilst some innocent people are also detained arbitrarily for opposing the government. The corruption cases against former government officials in Zambia point to this whilst the prosecution of Jacob Zuma for fraud in South Africa is a good example of equality before law.
Besides, the issues discussed above good governance also entail a system and leadership that is transparent, honest and accountable to the people. The Willowgate, Ziscogate and War Veterans Fund scandals in Zimbabwe where public funds were either abused or misused by government officials are typically some of the cases that are rampant in Africa. This has resulted in reduced public trust and eventually friction between the governors and the governed. Many leaders who have left power are accused of having secret offshore bank accounts with monies fraudulently acquired from the state.
Finally, although Africa is striving towards democracy, it has on many occasions found itself a victim of the imperialistic tendencies of some superpower states. This has resulted in other countries outside the continent imposing and supporting rulers that do now reflect the wishes of the people just because such individuals support such countries. Any leader from a resources-rich country who resist the imperialistic maneuverings of usually is targeted for regime change and usually the replacements turn out to be dictators. Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin, Mengistu Haile Miriam are some of the classical examples. The revelation by Simon Mann, a mercenary arrested and deported to Equatorial Guinea that United Kingdom and Spain were involved in the plot to topple the president of the oil-rich Equatorial Guinea goes a long way to prove how some of the states are making good governance hard to achieve in Africa. Another good example is the hypocrisy shown by America by declaring a blatantly flawed electoral process in Kenya ‘Free and Fair’ just because Mwai Kibaki has been touted in America as a democrat but at the same time denouncing Zimbabwean elections as flawed even before they are done. This has shown that whilst Africa would be better off maintaining its sovereignty, its destiny is still being shaped by its relation with the industrialized superpowers.
A discussion on governance and leadership in Africa is always a complicated subject; nevertheless with the issue of globalization, advent of new information technologies and general advance in technology there is hope for transformation. Better education and exposure of Africans to the developments in the Diaspora has equipped them with the sense of pride and appreciation of their continent and as I write a number of prototypes are emerging. The election of Mrs Johnson in Liberia, the prosperity of Angola in the newly-found democracy and smooth passing of power from one individual to another in Mozambique and Botswana gives an extra assurance to Africans that what is needed for Africa to boom is just PEACE and GOOD GOVERNANCE!
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