a écrit le 26 septembre 2016 à 18h05 A majority of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are still controlled by men who are motivated not by what they can do for their people but by what their people can do for them. Such leaders exist to prey on their own citizens, to extract from the body politic corrupt rents and other privileges that benefit the ruler and ruling class, their families, and their cliques or lineages. Presidents such as Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Equatorial Guinea and Isaias Afewerki in Eritrea are tyrants, but even some of the more moderate of Africa’s leaders, like Yoweri Museveni in Uganda, exercise power primarily for themselves and their close ethnic associates, not for the entire nation.
Fortunately, middle-class voters in Kenya and other African states can look to Botswana and Mauritius for consistent good, responsible leadership examples. They can remember the way in which Nelson Mandela led the first free South African government after 1994 and acted inclusively. They can also examine how effectively former president John A. Kufuor transformed Ghana in the earlier years of this century, after a series of corrupt and arbitrary presidents had driven the country to ruin, and how Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in war-torn Liberia and Joyce Banda in impoverished Malawi are attempting today to improve the lives of all of their citizens – not just a favoured ethnic group or favoured class.
Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa, according to Transparency International, largely because Seretse Khama, its first president, eschewed corruption himself and rigorously refused to allow his cabinet ministers or officials to indulge. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, the first prime minister of Mauritius, did the same. Now President Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s strong president, is attempting to “cut off the head of the snake†by refusing to condone corrupt practices.
Fortunately, middle-class voters in Kenya and other African states can look to Botswana and Mauritius for consistent good, responsible leadership examples. They can remember the way in which Nelson Mandela led the first free South African government after 1994 and acted inclusively. They can also examine how effectively former president John A. Kufuor transformed Ghana in the earlier years of this century, after a series of corrupt and arbitrary presidents had driven the country to ruin, and how Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in war-torn Liberia and Joyce Banda in impoverished Malawi are attempting today to improve the lives of all of their citizens – not just a favoured ethnic group or favoured class.
Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa, according to Transparency International, largely because Seretse Khama, its first president, eschewed corruption himself and rigorously refused to allow his cabinet ministers or officials to indulge. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, the first prime minister of Mauritius, did the same. Now President Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s strong president, is attempting to “cut off the head of the snake†by refusing to condone corrupt practices.
