Reading your supplement on Zimbabwe, my thoughts were provoked yet again on Africa’s disproportionately high incidence of heroes-turned-villains.
All around us, history has shown that revolutionary leaders can leave a positive legacy, one that bequeaths future generations a solid foundation. Even where these leaders are judged as authoritarian, as with Mao, Castro and Lenin, it was the passion to steer their nation onto the path of greatness that stands out.
The African experience, however, has been a repeating story of decline in leadership, culture and even follower-ship. When you see the likes of Robert Mugabe or Omar al-Bashir of Sudan carried shoulder-high by the same people they oppressed, in their usual dance of public defiance, one begins to wonder if there is an end in sight to this apparent syndrome of a trapped civilisation.
There seems now a sense of resignation within the continent, yet there is hope and cautious expectation among many within the African diaspora. For instance, why should Africa not partake in this season of global outsourcing in low-wage economies? As it stands, very few are able to provide the enabling environment for such investment. But this can change.
I think the time has come for international donors, who put so much money into the aid industry, to engage with the diaspora towards charting a regional approach in mobilising sustainable change in Africa. I think that given the necessary global clout, the African Union could prove very useful in pursuing institutional change through self-regulation towards good governance, in addition to a commitment to improving Africa’s access to global markets.
Son Gyoh,
Galway
