Good African Leaders

Who are they and how do we get them? By Dr. Wafula Okumu.

For forty years or so, African leaders have played a pivotal role in derailing the economic and political stability of the countries under their stewardships. In half the period of colonial rule, they have indulged in a reckless game of financial profligacy and violated human rights with impunity. It has now been universally acknowledged that bad leadership has a direct correlation to development of a nation. The root cause of Africa’s endemic problems has partly been traced to the continent’s coterie of bad leaders. African leaders are generally known to have created intractable conflicts, misused and abused of power, violated human rights abuse and driven their people further into the bowels of poverty. It is now generally believed that for Africa to reclaim its rightful position in the international system it must do something about its “bad leaders.”

But who exactly is a “good leader” and how do we get one? If use of patterns and trends could provide a useful guide in determining good African leaders we could simply pick Mandela, Nkrumah and Nyerere as the most respected African leaders and then anoint anyone with names starting letters ‘M’ and ‘N’ as good leaders. Unfortunately, this is not possible since these great African leaders also share the first letters of their names with some of Africa’s most despicable dictators: Moi, Mobutu, Mengistu, Mugabe, Nguema, Numeiri, and many others.

A distinguishing characteristic of almost all African countries is that they have been or are still being ruled by thug-like leaders. Their despicable behavior notwithstanding, the present crop of bad African leaders will have to be replaced one day whether they like it or not. When their time comes, the most important task will not be simply replacing these bad leaders but finding the right people to replace them. It is in view of this gigantic task lying ahead that the Congolese, Kenyans, Liberians, Zimbabweans, Malawians and other Africans must now focus their keen attention on picking replacements of the bad leaders who are running down their countries.

Before defining who a “leader” is and is not, we should first establish the fact that politicians usually do not make “good leaders.” As the British scientific journal Nature Today once pointed out in a study on leadership, politicians are uniquely simple personalities. In layman’s terms, that would mean they lack personality. The question then is: if we are to look for leadership qualities or inculcate them, what will they be? We often hear that leaders are born, not made. Although this opinion has been widely accepted for centuries, many experts are now rethinking this assumption. Most experts now believe that the ability to lead is not limited to the few born with exceptional talent. Even though an inborn potential doesn’t hurt, leadership is now viewed as a set of skills that, with proper training, can be learned. But what is leadership?

Leadership is getting other people to follow you towards a common goal. A leader feels that he or she has something to offer or that he or she can make an existing situation better. Initiative and vision are the pillars to leadership. The desire to lead, though essential, is not enough to make a dynamic leader. One has to have a firm grasp on knowledge, a well-horned and appropriate skills, and relevant experience that makes one almost a “philosopher-king.” Having the skills and know-how in a particular field makes one an obvious candidate for leadership. But this is not enough, particularly in the African context. For instance, someone may be a successful guerrilla leader, but a sadistic head of state once in power. Having knowledge is one thing, but putting it to use in the interest of the people is another. One’s knowledge is then only useful if it is used to enhance a common goal.

There are many other qualities of leadership. Inner qualities include fairness, impartiality, character, strength, and ability to recognize one’s limitations. Additionally, a leader is also one who is peace loving, faithful, kind, obedient to God, and serves his or her people. Other qualities include outspokenness, decisiveness, proactive, wisdom, strength, love for the people and the work, and honesty. Today people have also picked their leaders on the basis of their good looks, wealth, popularity, and the willingness to do anything to get on top and stay there.

According to the Book of Proverbs, the qualities of good leadership are hard work, reliable communication, openness to new ideas, capability of listening to both sides of the story, wise planning and common sense, ability to stand under adversity, standing well under praise, knowing the facts before making decisions, and not penalizing people for good behavior or rewarding evil people. In other words, leadership skills can be used for the great good or great evil. Unfortunately, most of our African leaders have chosen the later.

There are many African leaders who possess leadership personality traits but lack the spiritual character. Many of them have ignored the importance of a spiritual character to effective leadership. Moral and spiritual character takes years to build, and it requires continual attention and patient discipline. Many African leaders think that they are spiritual by merely proclaiming their faith or making appearances at places of worship or being in the company of opportunistic religious leaders.

Intemperate events in Africa have provided its leaders with golden opportunities to exercise their leadership skills. Unfortunately, many of them have chosen to use them against their people’s interests. Even those who have recognized their mistakes have been unwilling to admit them. None of them wants to bear the blame when confronted. It is a wonder that even those who claim to read the Bible have never learned from Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, that, it is not wise to wait until our errors force us to admit wrongdoing. And that it is far much better to openly admit our mistakes, shoulder the blame and seek forgiveness. It is a rarity in Africa for leaders to ever own up to their mistakes, leave alone take the blame and seek forgiveness.

Like King David, many African leaders have abused their positions of authority to get what they want. There is rampant abuse of power in Africa. These leaders are verse to exploiting, manipulating and compromising those under their authority. Africa has many Absaloms: these are leaders who use their charisma as a mask to cover craft, deception, and hunger for power. Underneath their style and charm, these leaders have been unable to make good decisions and handle the affairs of th