African Political Leaders Research Articles

Finding Benefits over Reluctance – Promoting Finnish Trade during African State Visits in Finland in the 1980s

ABSTRACT In the mid-1980s, Finnish decision-makers pursued a policy of increased trade with the Global South. This article examines the contributions of Finnish policymakers and company representatives to the commercial aspects addressed during the state visits from Africa in the mid-1980s. The article concentrates on the visits of political leaders from Zambia and Tanzania in 1985, and from Kenya in 1987. These visits have been selected due to their temporal proximity, the commercial connotations in the schedule of the visits, the similarity of the visiting states, and the significance of the given Finnish official development assistance (ODA). The findings present answers to the question of what the premises and justifications were for and against these commercial contributions. The article presents an overview of the aspects that were crucial to the decision-making when Finnish actors conducted trade-oriented relations with African states. The findings indicate that despite the initial reluctance to make arrangements, the conducted visits led to an increased promotion of trade-related aspects between Finland and its counterparts. The most crucial achievements were offering Finnish companies a chance to present their knowhow to African political leaders and stimulating discussion between these parties, in conjunction with Finnish policymakers providing their assistance.

Militarization of Democracy and the Resurgence of Military Coups in Africa

Although the wave of democratization has swept through Africa from 1990s thus reinforcing the acceptability of democratic principles of governance, the post-colonial states in Africa have historically been confronted with incessant military interventions. The recent resurgence of military incursion in Africa has led to the remonstrance of scholars and policy makers involved in seeking nuanced understanding in this democratization process questioning the efficacy and resultfulness of democracy and the military interventions in the continent. This research methodologically explores relevant secondary sources of data within qualitative research method to examine the various undemocratic practices enacted by African political leaders as attributed features of a militarized democracy creating an enabling environment for the advent of military resurgence in the continent. This article avers that, the version of democracy embraced by political leaders in Africa is a militarized democracy whereby authoritarian and autocratic principles are characterized proprium of civilian governments leading to various challenges militating against the continental development, which also created an enabling environment for the military interventions.

Anthropological strategies for successful Christian missionary endeavors amidst poverty escalation in Africa

Poverty and hunger have become global crises, especially in Africa. African political leaders have continued mismanaging public resources while many have embezzled public funds. Some have misappropriated public funds and borrowed senselessly from the West, making it difficult for them to dissociate themselves from the dictates of Western powers. Another factor that has impoverished Africa is intertribal war, caused mainly by leadership negligence because of their political calculations. Other problems that have contributed to the escalating poverty level in Africa are political instability, economic downturn, and religious intolerance. Despite the poverty crisis in Africa, the church has remained proactive in alleviating poverty in Africa. The church has been missional in its approach, but with its missionaries’ efforts, it has had to become strategic in the contemporary time to record successes in its missions’ endeavour in Africa, especially in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper attempts to explain the anthropological strategies that mission agencies and missionaries employ to record success in the face of poverty escalation in Africa; this will be achieved by explaining the concept of poverty in Africa, historically examining missions’ success in Africa and identifying anthropological strategies employed by missionaries in Africa despite the escalating level of poverty in Africa. This study reveals strategies for mission success to ensure missionaries of different denominations are aware of previous achievements and to do more.

From De-Emphasizing Public Health and Social Measures for Covid-19 to Vaccine Acceptance: An Analysis of Two Tanzanian Administration’s Responses to Covid-19

Recent global public health literature on politics and pandemics has explored the diversity of African political leaders’ responses to COVID-19. In this article, analysis is done of two Tanzanian administrations’ responses to COVID-19 to show how they departed from each other. For instance, the late President John Magufuli’s administration promoted ‘Afrocentric’ medical knowledge, endogenous initiatives, and spiritual prowess while de-emphasizing ‘Western’ biomedical and public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. His successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration, however, favoured and promoted public health and social interventions and authorized the importation and use of COVID-19 vaccines in Tanzania. Drawing on document analysis and in-depth interviews, argument is built on the concept of ‘Contested Truths’ and geopolitics of power and knowledge to argue that the approach taken by President Magufuli’s administration in curbing the spread of COVID-19 appeared as progressive because it articulated a decolonial turn, and gave people moral and practical orientation to navigate a highly uncertain time in their lives. However, it lacked the robustness for controlling the pandemic as it drew on a non-evidence-based approach. The intervention of President Hassan’s administration, instead, drew on evidence-based medicine and public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, as championed by global North epistemologies. This article emphasizes the significance of considering diverse COVID-19 responses and the various aspirations these responses serve within a nation and internationally.

An Afro-Christian contextual analysis of presidential pardon in post-colonial African politics

Presidential or royal pardon is an age-long practice in precolonial Africa as well as in biblical times. This practice has never been without criticisms because of how, and on whom the pardon is granted. The trial of Jesus has been vastly studied within an African theo-interpretive model. However, the demand for the release of Barabbas rather than Jesus has not been adequately studied in a contextual or comparative theo-political manner in Africa. This is the thrust of this article. Using the desktop method, the article argues that presidential pardon granted to convicted criminals who are not allowed to serve judicial punishment is a stimulant for inveterate corruption in the polity. The theoretical argument of this article is that many African political leaders often resort to this kind of pardon that has adversely affected the polity. The significance of this is that this behaviour emboldens political leaders to continue to corrupt the system with dire consequences for the people.

Nyerere’s Socialism and African Politics in Relation to Development

This paper discusses the Ujamaa philosophy and what it advocated as fostered by Julius Nyerere. The work relates the Ujamaa philosophy with socialism and how the combination of the two can be applied in advancing the African political leadership. The paper further exemplifies on the hindrances of application of Ujamaa and suggests ways through which the philosophy can be advanced.

Lessons from the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic: Why Africa Needs a New Development Strategy?

The research paper argues why African political leaders and economic actors need a new development strategy in light of what the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic has revealed as unacceptable shortcomings in Africa's healthcare systems and policies.

COVID-19 u Africi: Ekonomsko i socijalno tumačenje (2019-2022)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of challenges to the globalized world. Globally, it has decimated over six million lives. Since 2019, it has shook the world in many respects, especially, it disrupted economies and societies and halted the majority of human endeavor. Commentaries and reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the media showed an alarming situation that could be damning in low and middle income countries. Economic pundits and global public health experts also anticipated doom and gloom for African countries. However, in terms of mortality, the Americas, Europe and Asia have suffered more losses. Irrespective of these loses in Europe, Africa’s case needs better appreciation within our contemporary historical discourse. The burgeoning challenge of the COVID disease and mortalities arising thereby, among other things, necessitated the introduction of policies based on the WHO’s historical understanding of how the world has dealt with pandemics in the past. Some of the strategies that were deployed to fight the pandemic included hand washing under running water with soap, the use of alcohol based hand sanitizers, the wearing of nose masks, social distancing, self-isolation as well as partial and complete lockdowns of states and communities. The major economic disruption really came about as a result of many lockdown policies that were implemented by several countries in Africa without proper reference to their own societal contexts. These issues notwithstanding, it is important to emphasize that the extent of the impact on different communities differed to a large extent, even though there were similar levels of the nature of the infection and the general economic outlook among the global community. This current contribution on the COVID-19 discourse used political economy and economic shock as bases to highlight the extent of the impact of the disease by highlighting examples from respective countries in Africa, namely, Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa. In particular, the impact of policies like lock-down on some of these African countries are highlighted for further discussions in future empirical research. The study relied on contemporary historical evidence from multidisciplinary sources on health, economics, policy, and other related studies on epidemiology, public health, health education and promotion, reports and sources from the World Health Organization (WHO). Specifically, the authors have used published research in Lancet, the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, BMJ Global Health, Frontiers in Public Health and the Pan African Medical Journal. The others were African Development Review, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Africa Spectrum and International Journal of Financial Research including several other empirical researches. In attempting a social and economic interpretation based on contemporary historical sense, the findings of this present study suggest that African political actors or leaders should make persistent or steady efforts to strengthen the economies of their states to lessen economic shocks and social costs that come about as a result of pandemics such as the COVID-19. It also identified the fact that within the globalized space, application of policies from other countries including international organizations should not be devoid of context.

Presidential extraversion: Understanding the politics of Sino-African mega-infrastructure projects

The past two decades have witnessed increasing scholarly analysis of China’s growing presence in Africa. How does African agency operate within the asymmetric power relations between China and African states? How do African actors use foreign-sponsored projects to achieve domestic objectives? Some analyses take a China-centered perspective, with divergent views about how Chinese economic engagement promotes or inhibits African development. Scholarly work increasingly recognizes the agency of African actors. I advance upon the African agency argument by proposing a concept of presidential extraversion. I argue that Chinese-sponsored projects in Africa have coincided with the host ruler’s strategies for political survival. Internationally, African rulers have strategized among their available options to ensure that the state received foreign finance and services on the most favorable terms. Domestically, they have instrumentalized Chinese-sponsored projects and loans to demonstrate their performance legitimacy and sustain patronage networks. I process-trace the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway and Angolan Kilamba Kiaxi housing project, primarily relying on evidence collected in Kenya, Angola, and China from 2017 to 2019. The findings challenge the neo-dependency argument and show that despite Sino-African power asymmetry, African leaders have had the agency to shape this relationship to their advantage. The presidential extraversion argument advances upon African extraversion theory by locating the agency within the African political leaders rather than elites broadly.

Viewing the African Political Leadership Challenge through the Lens of Music Drama: Reflections on Duro Ladipo’s Ọba Kòso

In response to the question of the relevance of ‘classical’ African Studies to the contemporary need of the continent, this article explores the dynamics of leadership challenge as portrayed in Yorùbá music drama genre, using Duro Ladipo’s most popular folk opera: Ọba Kòso (The king did not hang) as a case study. Thematic exploration of the opera was carried out to establish the linkages between leaders’ (characters’) traits and styles as portrayed in the play, and Nigeria’s political leaders’ engagement and responses to social contracts with their citizens. By comparing the outcomes of the actions, inactions and (in) decisions of Nigeria’s political leaders and the attendant consequences on their subjects with those found in the opera. I argue that the African political leadership challenge is shaped by a combination of complex factors, including the leaders’ charisma and the quality of citizens’ engagements in the affairs of governance. These are largely occasioned by multiple effects of torrential and irresistible mob pressures on leaders. At the fringes of the debacle is a convergence of human fate and other coincidental elements within the various sites of the divide in the contestation for and utilization of power as a whole.

Covid-19 in Africa and Its Impact on African Migrants

The author focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on migration in African regions, as well as the effectiveness of mobility and the effective response of African political leadership. The article was prepared as a part of the Covid-19-Migrations news feed initiative, dedicated to issues, which the whole world and the African continent are facing.

Analysis of indigenous African political leadership among the Luba people of Kasai in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper aims to examine the nature of indigenous African political leadership among the Luba People of Kasai in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study employed qualitative research that was rooted in phenomenology. The concentration of the study was on the Kasai Central Province. The target population was charm givers, militia, and political leaders were selected as the units of observation by the researcher. The political leaders comprised of local traditional chiefs of villages and modern leaders. A sample size of 40 participants was adequate to enable the researcher to obtain rich information and reach the saturation point. The targeted 40 participants were: 10 charm givers, 8 members of the provincial parliament, 4 provincial ministers, 13 traditional leaders, and 5 militia leaders. The study used In-depth Interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions, and observations to collect data. The findings indicate indigenous traditional leadership among the Luba has various sources of power. These include the use of various symbols of Luba traditional leadership to perform duties on behalf of the community. The use of the manga is also in line with the customs and traditions of the Luba people and guides the leader on the right things to do while on the throne.

Reducing corruption and bribery in Africa as a target of the sustainable development goals: applying indicators for assessing performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess African performance for substantially reducing all forms of corruption and bribery on the continent by 2030, through the indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the available and accessible relevant data from credible sources, this work quantifies, outlines and analyses the relationship between corruption/bribery and sustainable development as it applies primarily to sub-Saharan Africa; assesses the trends in the region through the official indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the SDGs; and recommends other indicators for assessing ethical behaviour in African political, administrative and business leadership and institutions for achieving sustainable development and improved ethical performance towards significant reductions in all manifestations of bribery and corruption on the continent by 2030.FindingsCorruption and bribery are found to affect all SDG-related sectors, undermining development outcomes and severely compromising efforts to achieve the SDGs in Africa. Consequently, prioritising corruption reduction including from money laundering, bribery and other illegal activities is a necessary requirement for achieving sustainable development, good governance, building effective and inclusive institutions as required by SDG 16, and funding the achievement of the SDGs.Originality/valueThe main value of the paper is the insights it provides through the very comprehensive compilation of statistical information that quantifies, and with analysis, the corruption/bribery avenues and the resultant deleterious effects on sustainable development in Africa.

The African Allegations towards Ignorance of International Criminal Court: Does International Criminal Court unfairly focusing on Africa?

Though, African continent has the highest number of state parties to the Rome Statute, recently several criticisms and allegations have been leveled against ICC interventions in Africa. AU and African higher official apparently call for non-cooperation of ICC. They believed that, ICC is unfairly targeting Africa and Africans, and it is a neo-colonial plaything and that Africa has been a place to experiment with their ideas. Such allegation begs question that is really the ICC unfairly focusing Africa and Africans? Therefore, it needs evaluating these accusations by considering the whole process and function of ICC. Accordingly, when we evaluate the allegations, it seems too far from trues. Because, on one hand, many of allegation and criticism itself is not representative of African peoples rather it is the allegation of some African political leaders of authoritarian nature of power those who fears the prosecution for the commission of mass crime and atrocities in their respective countries. On other hand the composition of the court by itself is Africans. It is a global court with historically strong African support. It would not be the court it is today without the valuable input, involvement and support of the majority of African states. The court seeks justice for victims of grave crimes, including African victims; it needs the ongoing support of African government, civil society and public in order to achieve justice. It was intended to be a credible, independent judicial body, able to adjudicate the most serious of international crimes fairly and impartially, where National judicial systems have failed and fight against impunity all over the world.

Role of Statues in the Artistic Commemoration of African Political Leaders: Analysis of 20 Selected National Statues in African Countries

Artistic commemoration of leaders and other iconic personalities has been in existence for centuries. Statues in particular have been used as a fitting avenue for the commemoration of political leaders and other luminaries in many fields. The premise upon which statues are made is that the subjects featured initiated and attained, in their lifetimes, concrete achievements that significantly impacted upon the lives of their fellow human beings. Other criteria for commemoration include proven integrity, dedication and selflessness in the service of the country and citizens. Statues as an integral part of public art have often generated substantial controversy on various fronts in many countries. Some of these gravitate around issues such as disputed likeness, queries about the fundamental achievements cited of the subject, at times open protests on the actions, character and integrity of the subject as well as the location of the statues. Other areas of contention include the implication of the presence of statues upon the political psyche of the country and their long-time impact on history, the youth and posterity. This paper examines the extent to which African countries have embraced this mode of artistic rendition to commemorate African political leaders in a way that is commensurate to their achievements. It is outside the scope of this paper to delve into the intricate web of back-and-forth arguments about the ‘concreteness’ of the legacies of the featured leaders who are mainly founding political figures of the respective countries. The paper, however, analyses the artistic essence of the selected statues in terms of their visual impact and whether they are indeed useful in articulating the legacies of the subjects and further, whether they ultimately bear ‘enduring visual value’ that spurs conversation and insight into these legacies. Statues must, at the very least, spur debate and conversation into the legacy of the featured subject. It becomes a form of constant interrogation as history itself takes its course; controversy is not necessarily a negative occurrence since it forms part of this discourse. The concept of immortalization, which is what initiators of statues often hope for is much harder to achieve and difficult to define. The paper examines 20 statues of African political leaders in different African Countries.

Indices of Bad Governance by African Political Leaders: The Case Study of Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

Marcel SONY LabouTansi, the author of the novel "The Shameful State", denounces the dictatorial system often practiced by most African leaders in the management of the "res publica". He paints the barbarity of man in relation to his fellow man. It also presents the duality between the traditional society characterized by democracy, peace ... and the modern society based on dictatorship in which the government behaves as a state, as absolute master, and the governed in the eternal "- mute", "voiceless". It invites the recipients to renounce to the bad principle in order to establish democracy, a system that respects the individual freedom of the people, that of human rights, of professional promotion for the harmonious development of a sovereign and democratic State. The novel "The Shameful State" unfolds the spiral of the unpleasant reign of a megalomaniacal, criminal and lustful president, Colonel Martillimi Lopez, who "shamefully" manages power and ends with the crying and gnashing of his constituents' teeth. After having committed: pedophilia, adultery, assassination of opponents, he was deposed by his relatives who created an insurrection and was forced to hand over power to civilians to return to his native village.

Toxic Masculinity in Africa and the Bible: The Strong-man Model and the Co-optation of Feminist Biblical Interpretation

ABSTRACT The present article discusses the concept of toxic masculinity in the context of African political history, leadership models and feminist biblical interpretation. It explores and problematises the idea of manliness as a key concept of masculinity exhibited in the African context by warrior queens and perpetuated by modern African leaders. The essay will demonstrate that such masculinity is toxic and it uses this backdrop to investigate how feminist biblical scholarship interpret the portrayal of women characters in the Bible. This approach uncovers a tendency by feminist scholars to interpret some biblical women characters (such as Sarah, Hagar, Yael, Rahab, Jezebel, and Abigail) in a toxic way-as strong men, or even better men. As a result, feminist scholarship unwittingly contributes to toxic masculinity by presenting women who outdo men. The goal of this article is to expose the potential for co-optation of feminist biblical interpretation by toxic masculinity. This observation leads to an alternative and contextual reading of women characters in the Bible in a non-toxic way that potentially rehabilitates them. The ramifications of reading biblical women in a non-toxic way have potential implications for reading biblical men in a non-strong-man and non-toxic way. Keywords: Masculinity, Strong-man, Biblical Interpretation, Warrior Queen, African Leadership

Land Reform Programme (LRP) Controversies - Improving Rural Livelihoods through the LRP: A Discussion Paper

ABSTRACT It would seem some critical issues that had initially sent the country into a spiral of war–racial oppression and segregation was the land issue. These forms of inequalities and inequities manifested so much through land dispossession and for this reason, as some commentators would say, African political leadership traded off these issues for peace which was vital for nation-building. As a consequence, and after more than twenty years of independence in South Africa, those who were oppressed and were dispossessed by the apartheid regime began to voice concerns on the snail pace of the land reform programme. Some opposition political parties also seized the opportunity to galvanize their support base. Therefore, this paper explores how current land debates will unfold economically and socially. Thus, researchers, academics and development economists are sceptical about which approach to adopt to address this vicious circle of poverty and unemployment.

Discursive manifestation of two publics

The explanation of the political problem pervading the majority of countries in post-colonial Africa lies in the existence of two publics namely, the amoral civic public and the primordial public, which African political leaders are said to operate in. The amoral civic public, which includes institutions such as the military and the civil service, is dominated by the primordial public, which is based on primordial ties and gives politicians their moral framework. Using the practices of Political Discourse Analysis (PDA) which falls under Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) and perceives discourse as an (social) action, this paper explores how the two publics manifest in selected speeches of three African leaders namely former Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, former South African President Jacob Zuma, and former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The speeches, taken from media outlets such as newspapers, were chosen on the bases that they generated controversy and were widely discussed in media. The paper explains how some elements of the speeches that fulfil the requirements of a good image in the primordial public contravene the principles and norms of democracy. The findings show that that there is an existence of two publics that have a relationship with each other and which are the cause most of the problems in post-colonial Africa.

Language and Discourse in Contemporary South African Politics: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This study analyses written and spoken corpora of three South African political party leaders (Jacob Zuma of the African National Congress [ANC], Mmusi Maimane of the Democratic Alliance [DA], and Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF]) in different discourse contexts. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect the data, while Critical Discourse Analysis and text analysis constituted the analytical framework. Twelve political-leader speeches (four each), three senior party official interviews, and seventeen focus group interviews with the voting public were explored as data. The findings established that each political leader had his own persuasive strategies and choice of words, usually aligned with his ideological and personal agenda, and that these political leaders were not entirely responsible for their speeches. The study concludes that these political leaders used and chose words strategically in their speeches to persuade and manipulate their audiences.