{{A leadership style that strives to include more members of citizenry and pays much attention to their collective interests is what Africa needs, senior African leaders have said.}}
The leaders shared the message in a debate on the topic, “Leadership for the Africa We Want,” at the ongoing African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings in Kigali.
Panelists included President Paul Kagame, Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto, the Chairperson of the AU Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Mo Ibrahim, the founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Other panelists were former presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.
President Kagame gave the example of Rwanda as a nation where the use of politics for personal gain led to tragedy.
“Leaders made people believe that they were the majority and the others should be killed. They made people who had nothing believe that they, too, were Hutu power when in fact they had none,” Kagame said.
For bad politics to end in Africa, the President advised that leaders must serve with a clear vision of how to improve the livelihood of those they lead.
“We have to make sure that leaders are there for a purpose.They must deliver, work for transformation and better the life of their people,” he said during a heated debate on why so many leaders on the continent struggle to succeed in improving citizens’ lives.
Kagame said a swift implementation of well-known best practices in leadership that African leaders constantly talk about was needed to bring about significant positive change.
He said current leaders need to build strong institutions that would continue implementing the right vision even after they have retired.
“The main part (so far) has been in the theoretical part of leadership. What has been lacking is the practical side of it; how do we do what we know that we ought to do?” the President challenged the audience, advising that careful creation of effective institutions was needed.
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