Lusaka — Botswana President Ian Khama has asked African leaders to speak out against their colleagues that make their citizens suffer because of poor political leadership and bad management of national resources.
Speaking when he officially opened the 46th Zambia International Trade Fair in Ndola, about 300 kilometres north of the capital Lusaka, President Khama said the time was long overdue for Africa to rid itself of the ugly past of political instability and poor governance. President Khama, respected in Zambia for standing up against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's misrule, said anything short of good governance was unacceptable.
He said in a democratic dispensation, elected leaders owe a duty to their citizens to uphold the principle of good governance, democracy and the rule of law as a guide to deliver on their mandate.
"Let me emphasise the need for all of us to work together in promoting democracy and maintaining political stability in the region as this quality creates conducive environment for trade and investment," said President Khama. "In this day and age, we can no longer afford to patronize one another and watch and do nothing while people suffer as a result of poor political leadership and bad management of national resources."
The Botswana leader urged Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries to improve the quality of their goods and services to make them competitive on the international market.
He said Zambia and Botswana must diversify their economies to lessen their long stand dependence on mineral sector.
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I think Africa needs to take a very close look at its limitations and begin steering away from them. President Ian Seretse Khama of Botswana has obviously always been like a one leader show when it comes to speak on the forgiven ills of poor governance including the people and human abuse. The truth is it is almost as though it is due to his heritage to white blood that he thinks differently, and stands a contrast to government by concealment and repression of information.
It is a sad reality that Africa believes that condemning another African leader predisposes them to colonial attack or western attack. The need to defend each other while good, the overriding factor of hiding behide the excuse that Africa becomes vulnerable to western attack is a weakness that is killing change and therefore thwarting progress and development. Deep African tradition did not condone blaming each other in public but they quietly believed in taking steps to amend the wrong method and therefore had a responsive political system. The subjects saw changes come by if they approached the chief to look into ill treatment of his subjects. Granted the commercialization of systems brought with it corruption at a commercial scale which even led Kings and chiefs to sell their subjects in exchange for monetary value as would be the case for West Africa.
Generally though, it was acceptable that traditional chiefs and kings would die in the battle front fighting for their subjects. It was an honour for a chief or king dying in the battle in defence of the subjects. It was this theme that enforced the spirit of loyalty of subjects to the family of chieftainship, because of their loyalty first to the subjects. No doubt from this outlook one cannot compare that calibre of leadership, no matter how primitive, to the like of Robert Mugabe who even without physically having fought for liberation claim the whole process of democracy, one man one vote has to suffer till they die in power.
Without being a participant in corrupt sharing of the spoils, Ian Seretse Khama is not saying anything unusual when he bemoans human suffering on the continent due to leadership misrule and institutionalization of self aggrandizement in politics.
It is more on our choice of leadership or should I say the method of selecting leadership which is based on sharing the spoils on corruption which begets more subtle corruption practices. We need to go deep into self discovery admitting that greedy, vanity and selfishness need be subjected under some measure of control through enforcement of rule of law in its entirerity.
To a previous commenter - While I completely agree with much of your assessment regarding traditional African leadership and its accountability, you do your argument a disservice when you say that Khama's "white blood" allows him to think differently. Have you seen what is happening in France with ministers resigning due to national corruption scandals? How about the Bush administration in the US and the illegal war in Iraq or VP Cheney's funneling national defense contracts to his former company, Halliburton? Trust, corruption and bad management are not just an "African" issue. And when Africans stop feeling that they are inferior, as your comment implies, you will see that the solutions are already within your people - also, as you imply...
Observer: " .. you do your argument a disservice when you say that Khama's "white blood" allows him to think differently. .."
Indeed. Many a racist have tried to 'prove' a link between race/'blood' and 'thinking differently'/intelligence. They are still trying - hard.
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" .. Trust, corruption and bad management are not just an "African" issue. .."
True. Of course there is the current crisis in the EU countries - and in particular Greece where rampant corruption and bribery are blamed for the economic collapse that needed foreign intervention.
"Andrew Manyevere" is unaware of the economic/financial upheaval that for the past two years, shook the USA's (and EU's) economy and brought it to the brink of total collapse. Talk about corruption and mismanagement on a colossal scale.
And Africans had nothing to do with it (not directly.)
This is hte kind of leader Africa needs. A forceful, direct, honorable leader. It is fitting that he is speaking in Zambia that under Banda, Zambia might go the way of Zimbabwe and become Africa's laughing stock.
Mugabe and the other corrupt leasers are a blight on the continent. May their reign end soon!
Indeed, plundering, raping, torturing, enslaving, murdering british, french and the rest of the creatures from those eu badlands are a bllight on humanity ... may their end soon.
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