What is the Definition of Good Leadership in Africa
Africa as many of you will agree is a continent of milk and honey, yet the milk and honey doesn’t seem flow in her homes, streets, villages, towns and Cities. You ask me why? I can spew out a whole load of issues to why the good stuff is not following for everybody, thats a matter for another day, lets get to know each other.
One thing stands out as we often philosophise, the lack of good leadership. I then ask myself, what is good leadership in Africa’s context? Its a difficult one, because from what I have read we don’t seem to have a standard we can measure against.
Then a name pops up in my mind, Captain THOMAS SANKARA a Burkinabé, meaning he hails from Burkina faso, a land of upright man or the country of honorable people.
Occasionally the mother continent gets blessed with what we might term charismatic, inspirational and (fearless) leaders. I shall explain fearless later, stick with me. These are men on a mission, with a purpose to change the predicament their people find themselves in. But for the life of me, these greats, as we believe, have found it difficult to stay alive, to see their yearnings of the flowing beautiful stuff actually happen.
Back to Captain SANKARA, from what I have learnt of him, he was one of THEE leaders, sadly he didn’t live long enough to see 40, He did have amazing ideas and like anyone else he did mess up some things, but then again that’s being human.
Captain SANKARA would have been 65 this year, so I thought sharing with you, what he did would give you an idea of the man behind the famous name. Spend sometime to read what he achieved.
Also check out the quotes on the last bit, he was ahead of his time this guy. read on.
rdirwandarwiza.com
The Man
- Born in 1949 into the country known as Upper Volta.
- Followed a career in the military rising to the rank of captain.
- Led a coup d’etat against the government.
- Became head of state in 1983.
- Renamed the country Burkina Faso meaning “Land of Upright People”.
- Despised development aid because it led to dependence and external domination.
- Refused to listen to the World Bank and IMF describing them as “charlatans trying to sell development models that have all failed”.
- Launched the most ambitious program of social and economic change ever seen on the African continent.
- Paid himself $450 a month and refused air conditioning on the grounds that most of his countrymen could not afford it.
- Would not let his portrait be hung in his office or public places
- Was a fitness fanatic who was regularly seen jogging unaccompanied on the streets of Ouagadougou
- Assassinated October 15th 1987 at the age of 37
- At the time of his death all he had was an average house with an outstanding mortgage, $350 in the bank, some bikes and guitars.
guineematin.com
Achievements
- Purged deeply entrenched bureaucratic and institutional corruption.
- Slashed the salaries of ministers.
- Abolished many of the privileges of government.
- Sold off all extravagant vehicles. Made the Renault 5, the cheapest car in the country the official car of government including for himself as president.
- Civil servants were made to donate a month’s wage every year into a state development fund.
- Forced civil servants to wear locally made clothes during office hours to increase demand for locally made goods.
- Led an agricultural revolution.
- Redistributed land from the economic elite to subsistence farmers.
- Launched massive irrigation and fertiliser enrichment programmes.
- Constructed social housing in the cities.
- Declared 1 year rent free.
- Established special economic zones for private business.
- Attempted to create an industrial base for the dominant agricultural economy
- Focused on infrastructure improvement
- Promoted women’s rights – they could join the army, FGM was banned and women were put into top government and state owned company positions.
- Forced marriage and polygamy was made illegal.
- Declared day of solidarity with housewives during which men took on the role of their women.
Thomas using a Cheaper government cars
Results (within 4 years after coming to power)
- Burkina Faso was virtually self-sufficient in basic food. Today the country imports most of its food.
- 10 million trees were planted as part of a successful reforestation and environmental protection program.
- Literacy improved with school attendance rising from 10% to 25%.
- 5 million children were vaccinated.
- Childhood mortality was halved.
- The population wore clothes made in Burkina Faso and from cotton that was 100% sourced from within the country.
Thomas sankara with jerry rawlings former president of ghana
Failures
- He stifled independent unions.
- Did not educate the population politically so the ideals of revolution were never embedded.
- Change was too fast and too radical for most.
- He underestimated the power and influence of local rulers
- Alienated the middle classes.
- Became the hero of pan-Africanism , was anti-imperialistic but did not convert his influence into international clout. He did however reach out to the African American community on a visit to New York to express solidarity over racism, and spoke out aginast apartheid.
- Some saw him as an autocrat who came to power through the use of force
Thomas Sankara with Samora Machel former president of mozambique
SEE ALSO: What the map of Africa looked like before colonisation
Famous Sankara Quotes
- “He who feeds you, controls you”
- “…welfare and aid policies have only ended up disorganizing us, subjugating us, and robbing us of a sense of responsibility for our own economic, political, and cultural affairs. We chose to risk new paths to achieve greater well-being.”
- “We cannot transform society while maintaining domination and discrimination against women who constitute over half of the population.”
- “debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa. It is a reconquest that turns each one of us into a financial slave.”
- “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” (one week before his death.
Thomas sankara and family
Conclusion
Burkino Faso today, is one of the 10 least developed countries in the world.
Oh yes, (Fearless) meant he struggled with diplomacy, his choice of words left little to imagination, he was a typical wysiwyg, Was he a fool to challenge France and the UN? You decide.
Listen to Sankara on Debt
[source: africa enterpriseinvestor]
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