Dear Editor,
I wish to refer to Mr. Baldeo Persaud’s letter titled ‘Africa suffers from poor leaders’ (SN, 5.5.08). Poor political leadership is not unique and exclusive to the African continent. Examples of poor leadership can be found in both the developed and “third” worlds; in fact, the apotheosis of this can be found in the most developed of them all.
Even though leaders have an enormous impact on the fortunes of a country, one cannot examine a country’s present condition by exclusively (and rather simplistically) scrutinizing its present leadership structures. Such an exegesis would require a multifarious approach and must include an examination of the historical and instructional structures that preceded the current leadership.
Historical institutional structures have a more pronounced bearing on a country’s present state than the idiosyncrasies of its existing leadership. Most developed countries inherited strong social, political, and economic structures that no matter how poorly or reckless a serving leader performs, the country is not likely to suffer any severe shock or decline as a result. George Bush and Hugo Chavez readily come to mind.
Modern-day Africa would have inherited institutions that reflect the transgressions of exploitation, domination and control from its fractured past. These institutions manifest themselves both in the domestic and international arena.
Dependency and “underdevelopment” are examples of these institutions in the global context. Historical divisions along ethnic lines and poor social structures for the majority of Africans have resulted in the present state of Africa.
Mr Persaud argues that “poor… leaders like Mugabe are responsible for the present state of Africa.” Let us suppose that South Africa President Thabo Mbeki is one of those poor leaders, then based on Mr Persaud’s assessment, South Africa should be one of the countries at the top of “the list with AIDS, malnutrition, illiteracy, civil war, refugee camps, a fuel crisis and poverty.” Yet, the reality shows a different picture. Why are South Africa and many other African nations, an exception to this poor leadership thesis?
Finally, in arguing his case against the destructive policies of Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, Mr Persaud made no attempt to examine separately the other countries that form the continent.
He, like so many others, has taken the images he sees from the mainstream international media from HIV infected and war-torn regions of Africans and decided to paint the entire continent as a reflection of those images. Well, there are many African countries which are well off and many even more so than our own dear country. Is poor leadership at work here?
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
