Just another African President?

There must be a gene in the blood of African politicians — with only a few exceptions, and including the military rulers — that causes them to get drunk with power. Intoxicated, they are unable to find the door on which is boldly written, “Exit”. 

Defining themselves by the size of their dwellings and the sleekness of their limousines, they — almost without exception — grab, eating with both hands. 

To cling on to power, they steal the people’s verdict at the polls, intimidate opposition, gag the media, buy those citizens who are buy-able, arrest and detain those who prove irrepressible … and hope that they will forever remain untouchable and invincible.

If I am not making references to equally greedy and terrible presidents in other parts of the world, it is because of “dzi wo fie asem” (to wit: minding my own business) I am more worried by the extent to which the greed and power drunkenness of African rulers have a direct correlation with the unacceptably h