Leadership in the African context

The Western world and its values have affected Africans deeply. Developed countries have always viewed our continent as a place plagued by corruption, dictatorship, military coups, rebellious leaders, greediness, misuse of power, incompetent leadership, politically as well as economically ineffective leaders who undermine their own democracies. Right now Zimbabwe is used as a classic case of this by the Western world. People are often not aware, though, that land is an important part of the problem. For example, 80 percent of Africans in South Africa used to live on 13 percent of the land. We also need to know that powerful or developed countries have contributed to this crisis. As a result, African leaders have often spent their time reacting (instead of responding) to the Western world.

The past has affected the continent in such a way that many of our best minds left the continent in search of greener pastures. We are still experiencing this brain drain. We cannot escape the legacy of the old colonialism. We are now faced with the challenge of nurturing and shaping new models of leadership. Our heritage is important as we develop new concepts of African leadership.

African heritage and its leadership

Africa has a rich heritage of leadership, but it is not uniform. Among African cultures, there are some similarities, but there are also differences from time to time, from place to place, from people to people. These differences in leadership were affected by the Christian and Muslim faiths as they were introduced into Africa. As a result, three types of leadership emerged and moulded African leaders in different styles. The three historical eras--namely the African religious era, the Christian era and our time of globalization--brought tremendous changes in the life of communities. Each era is characterized by distinct contributions to our understanding of leadership.

What then is leadership? Leadership has to do with someone who has commanding authority or influence within a group. In Africa a leader is viewed as someone who is a servant to the clan, tribe, community or group. In other words, African people treat a leader by virtue of being a king, priest or ruler chosen by virtue of the office in order to serve the nation. Nahavandi, when exploring the topic of leadership, suggests the following elements:

a) "Leadership is a group phenomenon." In other words, there are no leaders without followers. He continues, "Leadership always involves interpersonal influence or persuasion."

b) "Leaders use influence to guide groups of people through a certain course of actions or towards the achievement of certain goals." In other words, leadership is goal-directed, and plays a significant part in the life of a group, tribe or community.

c) "The presence of leaders assumes some form of hierarchy within a group." (11)

These three concepts explain to us the power of leadership, which governs the life of a community. In an African village, the hierarchical structures are formal and well-defined, with a king at the top of the structure, ruling and leading the villagers. In short, a leader is someone who influences individuals and groups within a community or a village. The leader helps them to establish goals, and then guides them through the whole process, allowing the community to be effective (if he or she is a good leader).

Africa has also experienced dictatorship in areas of leadership (e.g., Idi Amin, Mabuto Se Seseko). Those opposed to them were killed. With the new leadership that is emerging, we hope we will experience leaders who are sensitive to the needs of the peopie. We need leaders who will help Africa to become innovative. The only way African leaders can be effective is by addressing the problems that are affecting their followers. Let us now analyze the three different eras which influenced leadership in Africa.

African religious era

During this era, Africans experienced powerful leadership from kings, priests and rulers. Religious symbols and music played an important part in guiding the community or villagers. Talking drums were played by indunas in order to summon people to a meeting. Music, especially drums, was used in all activities of a community. African people are religious by nature. Prior to Christianity, African religious ceremonies in the community or village were led by leaders who held office in a powerful way. Their leadership was effective and it touched the hearts of people. Their wisdom in leading and helping the villagers/community opened up new relationships between leaders and the people. These leaders were the human keepers of the religious heritage. Mbiti had this to say about these leaders:

   They formulated religious beliefs, they observed religious
   ceremonies and rituals, they told proverbs and myths which carried
   religious meanings, and they evolved laws and customs which
   safeguarded the life of the individual and his [sic] community of
   villagers. (2)