African leaders must change their power-drunk thinking

Since decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s the continent of Africa has been ransacked, brutalized, imprisoned, impoverished and destroyed by men who claim to love her so much that they would do anything to protect her. Yet the record of past and present leaders like Mobutu, Hastings Banda, Sani Abacha, Laurent Gbagbo, Gaddafi, Omar Bongo, Siad Barre, Eyadema, Arap Moi, Ibrahim Babangida, Robert Mugabe, Museveni, Obiang Ngueman, Nguesso, Dos Santos, and  Paul Biya show how destructive these leaders have been to the continent. 


What is recently going on in Senegal in which an octogenarian Abdoulaye Wade wants to rule for a third term despite being 85 years old is a tragedy that has prevented development in Zimbabwe, Angola, Congo, DRC, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Robert Mugabe is 88 years and having ruled Zimbabwe since 1980   says there is nobody in Zimbabwe to replace him. Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986 and does not want to quit. Obiang Nguema has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979. Issia Afeweki of Eritrea has been in power since 1993 and has prevented democracy from gaining route in the country despiting promises. In Cameroon and Burkina Faso Paul Biya and Blaise Campore have more than 40 years between them and they are not prepared to hand over the mantle.


The unfortunate thing about these leaders is that their economic record is very very bad. Oil rich Equatorial Guinea still have majority of its citizens living in poverty. The same is true for Gabon, Angola, Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon. They have failed to make change in their respective countries. As Myles Monroe recently said many of the leaders in Africa “live to make a living instead of living to make a difference.”