Leaderlessness is costing Africa dearly

In this article, I am only thinking aloud – in a profession where thinking is allowed.

Today, I am thinking about leadership; to be precise, leaderlessness in a family or a nation, especially Africa.

Why does the Bible ask the sluggard to “Go to the ant”?

If, like me, you have not seen an ant in 20 years, don’t worry. Go to Odawna or Kokompe, both in Accra or Suame Magazine in Kumasi.

There are clusters of mechanics’ workshops. Indeed, you may not need to go so far. Visit any artisanal workshop and observe proceedings for only 15 minutes.

I have been driving for a while so, naturally, I see auto and air-conditioning mechanics quite a bit.

On more occasions than I can remember, I have stood in awe at the sheer display of leadership qualities at Odawna, Kokompe and Suame, and wondered why our schools of business and departments of Human Resource Management in universities do not apply to send their students to them for industrial attachment. 

There, at these workshops, you do not need to ask to be shown who is the boss, who is next, and who is the latest apprentice. Like monkeys, they play by sizes.

They know who is a ‘Master’ (not Kwesi Pratt’s “massa”) or who is a ‘Senior’.

Among the junior apprentices, it wouldn’t take more than five minutes to tell who is the least or the just-arrived. 

Promotion from ‘Apprentice to ‘Senior’ and ‘Master’ is strictly on merit.

I cannot swear there is no pilfering or stealing from customer’s car; being human, there could be, but it is rare.

You could accidentally leave your money in the glove compartment and come back for it, intact.

The Master, by his own lifestyle, teaches them the value of thrift. 

What makes the leadership story of ants outstanding is that they have no brains.

Artisans have brains, but in Africa, they are generally regarded as drop-outs who chose to be mechanics for want of anything else to do.

Africa can learn something from the mechanic shop. It’s called leadership. 

Mark

I ask myself, how come that among Heads of State of Africa, we mention Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela and Julius Nyerere with respect and so much fondness?

In today’s Africa, why has it been so easy to isolate Paul Kegame of Rwanda, Ibrahim Traore and (now late) John Magufuli, Tanzania's one-time 'Bulldozer'?

Their leadership acts have left a mark on their cities, especially cleanliness and incorruptibility.

Our experience in Ghana makes us think it is impossible to achieve the following:

• Zero tolerance for littering — as revealed not by propaganda but by first-hand experience of Ghanaians who have spent a few weeks in, for example, Rwanda.

• In Rwanda, it takes six days to register a business.

If the waiting goes beyond six days, then there is something seriously wrong and you have to report it.

Your complaint can be tracked because applying to register a business is done online.

• All land in Rwanda is digitised and zoned. To apply for the land, one does not need to go in person to any Land Commission or Land Title Registry.

It is done online. They’ve learned that it is the physical contact that breeds corruption.

Let’s turn to Tanzania: 

• President Magufuli slashed the budget for a state dinner to celebrate the opening of parliament. The money saved was used to buy hospital beds!!!

• Told that cholera had killed 74 Tanzanians, he cancelled his country’s Independence Day celebrations to save money to fight the cholera outbreak.

• Insisting that most of what government officials travel abroad to do can be done by Tanzanian embassy officials in their countries of accreditation, he reduced a bloated delegation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta from 50 to just four!

• Magufuli ordered that government meetings and workshops be held in government buildings rather than expensive hotels.

He also restricted the number of refreshments allowed at official meetings to only juices and water. “You can take your breakfast at home!" he said.

Is it not admirable that after being in office from 1951 (Leader of Government Business) through 1966, Kwame Nkrumah left office with no private mansion of his own?

Even his clothes were property of the Republic of Ghana!!! He left behind, for Ghana, more than 200 factories which successive Presidents have sold to balance the budgets and satisfy their greed.

My emphasis in this article is that these accomplishments are not necessarily those of a President; they are the habits and accomplishments of a “leader”. It takes vision. John Mahama has started well. Shall we be saying the same of him in 2028?

Isn’t it significant that ever since Jerry Rawlings’s confession of US$2 million gift from Abacha, he began to fade from our memory as a leader?

The problem in Ghana is that a President, Prime Minister, MP or minister who refuses to be corrupt is considered “a fool” and visionless by their own family.

It didn’t start today. Check from Ayi Kwei Armah’s book  The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. 

The writer is the Executive Director,
Centre for Communication and Culture.
E-mail: ashonenimil@gmail.com
0208 178 680/0544 663 737