Political Leadership and Humanitarian Crisis: The Aftermath of Rwanda Conflict and the Challenges of Democratic Sustainability in Africa

Abstract

Political leadership and humanitarian crises have had a huge impact on the democratic sustainability of many African states since gaining independence from their colonial masters in the 1960s. Political leadership, humanitarian crises, and democratic sustainability are strongly interconnected as the quality of leadership during a crisis can either strengthen or weaken democratic systems. Good leadership prevents crisis, while bad leadership leads to anarchy, thereby endangering democratic principles and processes. The ideas of political leadership, humanitarian crises, and democratic sustainability unfold in the case of the Rwandan conflict and its aftermath, thereby making the country a case study for the rest of the world. This is well described using the Political Leadership theory in this study. The objectives of the study are to: (i) examine the Rwandan conflict/genocide and Rwanda’s political sphere between 1998 and 2022; (ii) interrogate the role of leadership in the recovery of Rwandans from the humanitarian crisis they faced; (iii) highlight the policies and structural changes made by the government of Rwanda, particularly the reconciliatory and peacebuilding mechanisms initiated in the aftermath of the Conflict; and (iv) examine how political leadership, humanitarian crises, and democratic sustainability have contributed to the current state of affairs in the continent of Africa. Thus, the study adopted a qualitative case study design to evaluate political leadership, humanitarian crises, and the challenges of democratic sustainability in the context of post-genocide Rwanda. The study revealed, among others, that Rwanda’s leadership overcame the humanitarian crisis via leadership quality, indicating that strong institutions, effective leadership, and the rule of law are key to sustaining democracy in African states.