Africa is a unique continent and as such the type of leadership is also very different from the rest of the world. Almost all African countries were colonised. People who lived in those colonies at that time were tortured, humiliated and made to work under harsh conditions.
This made them believe in superiority of their masters and obedience to their colonisers. As African countries began to get independence and local political leaders got into power it has become difficult for the formerly colonised people to adapt to the concepts of freedom and independence.
Let us not forget that Africa is an extremely traditional continent and as such many traditional practices and beliefs collide with the law and constitutional rights. For example, in many African societies women are considered to be inferior to men, while the constitution states that all men and women are equal. Many societies do not accept this equality and they tend to ignore the rights. This leads to conflicts and it is all up to African leaders to remind people on the rights and to solve the conflict to ensure peace and stability. In some countries, however, this is rarely happening and as I write this – there are girls who are not allowed to get education in the countries. Their place is believed to be home, bearing children and doing domestic chores.
Africa has many forms of governance such as democracies, monarchs and one-party states, just to mention a few. In these forms of government political candidates put up campaigns where they make a lot of promises to citizens, promising them peaceful and better lives, prosperity and equal opportunities, but when the same leaders get into power they totally forget about the people who voted for them.
Many such leaders exploit their powers by only benefiting people in their parties and this leads to unrest and political disorder. In conclusion, African leaders should be people of change, they must be open to criticism and be willing to be corrected when they go wrong. They should support the youth as they are the future leaders to take Africa to greater heights.
Agatha Situmbeko
Rundu