Africa: A failure of leadership and governance; with Kenya as a case in point:

The period between 1960 and just about 1973 is fondly remembered by many as ‘the sixties’. The world was changing swiftly and there were numerous turning points in political, social, cultural and technological circles. It was like a new awakening; an ushering in of a new world order. To many this is known as the era of the shift from a preceding order to a novel one that encouraged individual freedom, liberty and the pursuit of new ideals. It became known as an era of nationalism. A new consciousness was sweeping across the globe, and more and more people were beginning to agitate for the end of the old rigid dispensation and the ushering of a new way of thinking. In the United States, the black civil rights movement was at full momentum, just as well as the Vietnam anti-war protests. In Asia the Arab Israeli conflict was raging and in China the Chinese people were undergoing a cultural revolution. The world was at crossroads, and the conservative and inflexible ways of the past could no longer hold back the sweeping new spirit.

The advent of the sixties was a monumental era for Africa as well. The malevolent institution of colonialism which had for centuries shackled and bled the children of Africa was rapidly disintegrating in the wake of African nationalism and international pressure. Many African states were gaining or were at the advanced stages of gaining their independence. As many as 32 African countries actually gained their independence in the period between 1960 and 1968 and this includes our own beloved Kenya. Anybody who was alive then would have thought that Africa’s moment had finally arrived. With the vast wealth of the continent, the robust growing population and the enthusiasm of the African people, this was like a rebirth; the beginning of a new age of prosperity.

But such enthusiasm and optimism were short lived, as the cruel hand of reality soon reared its ugly face. The aspirations of the people quickly diminished, as within just a decade; many of the infant nations had degenerated into civil strife, chaos, poverty and anarchy. Coup d’état after coup d’état brought many African countries on their knees. And in no time Africa was lagging behind the rest of the world in their Human Development Index. In just about a decade, Africa had degenerated from the dark horse, to the black sheep of the world.

So, what exactly had happened to dampen the enthusiasm and the aspiration of the African people? What had subverted the future that that we had bitterly and painfully crusaded for? What had plagued our dream of self governance and our dreams of prosperity and wealth? Of course several schools of thought exist in the attempt to explain how a continent that was beaming with so much hope and optimism would come to paint such a less than enchanting picture. One school argues that the wave of nationalism that had swept over the world was deceptive and that most African nations were not ready to be independent and self governing. This thought goes further to say that most countries had rushed their independence and did not have the institutions, the knowhow or the infrastructure to handle this new dispensation. The other school of thought argues that independence for African countries was a poisoned chalice and that the colonial powers were simply not going to give up their cheap sources of raw materials, labor and dumping markets without a fight. This school of thought goes on further to pronounce that the colonial powers intentionally rocked the boat to ensure that chaos ensued in their former colonies so that they could continue to plunder resources in the consequent chaos. France has been pointed as the biggest culprit in this quarter.

Whereas both the two arguments above have credence, particularly the latter, Colonialism and Neocolonialism cannot truly justify why even after decades of self governance Africa’s problems still persists. The effect of colonization and imperialism on the African psyche cannot be wished away; neither can the unfair trade practices and the debts that bedevil Africa, but it is ripe time that that we as Africans looked beyond the perennial blame game and gaze at the person in the mirror. Many African countries recently turned 50, and some may argue that 50 years is more than ample time for a nation to get its house in order. So then; what exactly is Africa’s problem? The late internationally acknowledged writer Chinua Achebe never minced his words when asked about what he thought was really plaguing Africa. He passed a verdict of ‘guilty’ on African leadership. Of his country Nigeria he said, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility; to the challenge of personal examples which are the hallmarks of true leadership” The internationally acclaimed writer emphatically put the blame on African leadership, in a bid to decipher why we as Africans find ourselves in this undignified position.

It is clear that as Africans our leaders have miserably failed us. Nigeria’s problems as articulated by Chinua Achebe are no different from Kenya’s problems, nor Ivory Coasts’ problems nor any other African countries’ problems. It all stems from poor leadership and bad governance. As Africa our leadership has simply and inexcusably failed us right from our founding fathers, and I will use my country Kenya to illustrate this point. For a post-colonial African nation to take off economically and socially number of factors had to be incumbent. The first one was the proper mobilization of the nation’s resources, both physical and human. To most African countries, land was the biggest factor of production, and so a competent post-colonial land policy was of the essence, but needless to say, most founding fathers blundered with their preliminary land policies. Most continued with the colonial land policies and involved corruption, tribalism and nepotism in land allocation. Many African people were left landless and thus impoverished and unable to participate in production and wealth generation which would have set precedence for industrialization. A lot of land fell in the wrong hands of either people who were no able to utilize or those who had no interest in utilizing it, leaving large tracts of productive land idle. This was one of the failures, for instance of our very own Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. Post-colonial governments also required that the wave of nationalism that had agitated for freedom be used to mobilize the different people from different subcultures into forging nationhood, but most African leaders failed miserably in this area either by commission or omission. It is no wonder that today, most of our problems can be traced to tribalism, clanism and failure of a common national identity in most African countries.

I will use my own country Kenya to extrapolate some of the problems that belabor our African nations today to the extent that our human development index remains where it is, a stark contradiction to the Asian giants with whom we were once at par. A recent study by the research company Ipsos Synovate concluded that Kenyans themselves know exactly what is wrong with their country. 22% of the Kenyans interviewed attributed Kenya’s predicament to poor governance, while 20% thought corruption was Kenya’s biggest problem, needless to say that corruption simply reflects on the governance. 14% thought it was government neglect, while 11% attributed it to insecurity and 6% to tribalism. It is clear that we all know that our own problems stems from those we entrust to lead us.

Our leadership simply has not got it right. At independence, Kenya’s economy was at par with that of South Korea. Today, South Korea’s GDP is almost forty times that of Kenya. This is obviously nothing to be proud of. So, where did the rain start beating us? They say that any course starts and ends with the leadership. The leadership is supposed to set the priorities right for developmental take off, but most post-colonial governments including that of Kenya failed miserably in this endeavor. Lack of investment in infrastructure from successive regimes in Kenya made sure that the country could not attract investment. Most of the money required to build the basic infrastructure that would make it easy for the country to do business ended up in private hands. Corruption and mismanagement meant that most capital projects were compromised or altogether ignored. Wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, while the masses lacked the basic infrastructure to generate wealth and build a robust economy. Another basic failure of successive governments was the lack of adequate investment in the education sector. To become competitive and to meet the demands of a rapidly growing economy, technical expertise was of the essence. Lack of proper investment in education ensured that skilled labor was not readily available, and neither was a breed of technocrats and scholars who could steer innovation.

Another glaring failure of these governments was the failure to unite. Many African founders including our very own Jomo Kenyatta adopted divisive systems of government based on ethnic divisions as a way of keeping a foothold on their autocratic regimes. Many regions or communities were marginalized or left out of development. Even though Kenya might have survived the political strife that characterized the sixties and seventies because of this kind of leadership, many other African states were not as fortunate. Coup d’états, civil wars, secession and subsequently anarchy were among the results of these poor government policies. This was of course exacerbated by the opportunistic Western nations that were always waiting in the periphery to capitalize on the resultant chaos to plunder resources. Political unrest in most African states has been driven by the need by these autocratic regimes to have control of power. This takes emphasis away from institutionalism and subsequently leads to failed states since many of the excluded groups take advantage of these institutional failures to secede or topple the governments.

It is always said that it is easier to state the problem than to provide the solutions. So what is Africa’s way forward in a nutshell? Simple: Africa needs a new breed of leaders to steer the continent into future prosperity. Africa requires leaders who are dedicated to good governance, inclusion and true democratic principles. This of course, might sound like a song that has been played before. In the 80s and 90s a new breed of leaders seemed to be on the rise and once again optimism in a new Africa was cautiously renewed. Many Sub-Saharan countries were breaking down their corrupt and autocratic regimes and participating in multiparty elections. It was almost like a new African renaissance. Such leaders as Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Jerry Rawlins of Ghana, Paul Kagame of Rwanda et al were seen as a new brand of visionary leaders who could be entrusted to steer the continent into the future. But just like the optimism that had characterized the initial post-colonial governments, this optimism quickly faded. The ‘big man’ syndrome persisted and so did the poor governance, the corruption, the divisive leadership and the tendency to cling to power at any cost.

In conclusion, Africa can only salvage itself by acquiring a new brand of leaders. Economic development does not just happen. It is steered by good policies, good governance and political will. The new breed of aspiring African leaders must approach leadership with a vision of serving the people and not just for private gain and enrichment. They must be committed to good governance, proper policing and fiscal management which are fundamental to renewing Africa fortunes. Africa needs leaders who can deliver tangible results to the people and not just sheer rhetoric; otherwise we will continue being the talk of the world in the same negative light that we find ourselves today.