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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Leadership Disposition: Unlocking the "leader" within. The path to lasting peace and sustainable development?
| Panel |
71. African political leadership: any alternatives?
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| Paper ID | 590 |
| Author(s) |
Wanki, Anita
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Post-independence Africa witnessed significant preoccupation with, and focus on political leadership. This accent was due in part to the fact that political leaders were particularly visible embodiments of the state and that the institutions were much more unstructured and elusive of analysis than the leadership. This stress on political leaders was based on the expectation by political leaders themselves that the new political elites of Africa were going to transform the political, economic and social life of these states in the very near future. Political leadership in Africa often starts off on a feverish pitch of optimistic excitement, and eloquence about great plans and good leadership. Political leaders were perceived as the driving force for development, the architect of institution building and the short-cut to political and economic development. Expectations were high, so too was optimism.
However, reflecting on the record of political leadership about three decades later, the results are disappointing. There is a yawning gap between expectations and reality. Not only has the general pattern been so bleak, but the worsening state of leadership in Africa stretches its tentacles to nearly all spheres of life. The paper argues in part that the current leadership crisis in Africa has its roots in its colonial origin. However, it posits that leadership is a choice. It is true that deep-seated social and economic failures underlie some of the problems faced by African states. It is also accurate to assert that these problems are in key respects political ones- leadership crisis to be precise- for which leadership solutions must be found. The present paper therefore argues that everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership is as much disposition as it is position. Contextually, the paper posits that unlocking the African political leadership disposition is the path to lasting peace, sustainable development and prosperity in the region. in other words, exploiting the "leader" within the leader. Interestingly, the political leader is the first domino in line. What the leader does sets in motion a chain- reaction of events- for better or for worse. This paper is a call to cast a stone that starts an avalanche. It is a challenge to strike a match that ignites the current political leadership in Africa to reach higher, go further and do greater, and choose or decide on their leadership effect. Leadership is a choice that rests with national leaders. However, neglecting the role of choice seems to be a neglect of one of the most important factors in determining what way and how far a state will change.
To better appraise the centrality of the leadership disposition in the present discourse, the enquiry will make recourse to the socio-political and economic malaise in the continent. Highlighting the inextricable link between political leadership and the plethora of ills and challenges that plague the continent, the paper examines the balance of the present evidence that seems to suggest weaknesses and failures. Lastly, the paper would explore some key constraints to enhancing a thriving political leadership in Africa.
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