The Question of Leadership in Africa: A Kantian Contribution
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Scottish Group of Education and Testing Services
Abstract
Description
The leadership question has become one of the recurrent issues in African politics. It is a
truism that everything rises and falls on leadership. Among several factors that have been
adduced for the failure of post-colonial African states and governmental apparatuses is the
concept of weak, corrupt and incompetent leadership experiment on the continent. It has been
argued that if Africa gets its leadership right, the socio-eco political ambiance of the continent
and its citizenry would benefit from it. Therefore, this paper engages the necessary theoretical
underpinnings of leadership, opting for the concept of ethical leadership using Kant’s
Categorical Imperative as a model for ethical values in the process of governance in the
continent. This paper engages secondary sources of data in marshalling its point for ethical
leadership based on the proposal of the German Philosopher. It argues that it would be a
disservice to the continent if its intelligentsia underplay the central place of ethical values in its
pursuit of an ideal form of leadership that is a prerequisite for national/continental
development. From this paper, one can conclude that ethical leadership based on the Kantian
paradigm is a necessity for development and true democracy in Africa
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General)