Good Governance, Democracy and Leadership styles in Africa

Abstract: Issues of constitutionalism, good governance and democracy are determined by the type of

leadership in a country and/or continent. Despite colonial legacy, leadership in Africa has struggled to promote

pro-people policies that accommodate the needs of the populace. Leadership deficiency is a cause for concern

in African countries in terms of progressive and visionary leadership. Perspectives on political leadership in

Africa vary from the“criminalisation” of the state to political leadership as “dispensing patrimony”, the

“recycling “of elites and the use of state power and resources to consolidate political and economic power as

stated by Van Wyk (2007) . African states and their leaders have exploited and monopolized internal

sovereignty to mean absolute power, persornalisation of state-like services and have monopoly of and over

organised violence.

This paper attempt to review and analyze the type and styles of political leadership in Africa in an

effort to promote democracy and good governance. Leaders play a pivotal role in political agenda setting, the

distribution of resources and political actions. The contemporary state in Africa is a remnant of a colonially

imposed system. At the time of independence, elites attempted to transform this but only succeeded in

entrenching their interests .This paper therefore seeks to unpakage why African countries are no better than

they were under colonial rule. Of what value then is the hard won independence that African countries

commemorate on a yearly basis? African politicians need to provide good leadership qualities so as to

consolidate democracy and good governance

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