African Leaders Must Draw Lessons From Zuma’s Case

Ex-President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma, finally had to resign from his post as President.

His resignation has been mired in corruption scandal.

This was a scandal against him over public money spent on his private home.

The genesis of Zuma’s problems, which subsequently led to his resignation.

And not even a public apology from him could appease the good people of South Africa.

In his own words, the matter has caused a lot of “frustration and confusion.”

So, if the former South Africa president believed so, the question then is: why did he take him such a long time to bow out of office when it was increasingly clear that he had lost touch with the majority of South Africans who voted massively for him?

Similarly, it was reported on Friday, February 16, 2018 that the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn, has resigned unexpectedly, stressing he hoped to end years of unrest and political upheaval.

This was after hundreds of Ethiopians had died within three years of anti-government protests.

However, it is quite refreshing to see that African leaders are seeing the essence of resigning when all the odds are against them.

One thing that is typical of many of our leaders is the penchant to stay in power at all cost, even when majority of their people are against their presidencies.

A case in point is what played out in Ghana’s neighbouring country, Togo last year.

THOUGH the political tempo has quieted a bit, there is no sign of President Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma leaving office anytime soon.

Thus, it will not surprise Today if citizens of Togo hit the streets again to put pressure on their president to resign.

We expect African leaders to take a cue from the resignations by these two heads of state and what pertains in advanced democracies like that of the USA, UK etc., which we are learning from.

Our leaders must understand that hanging on to power in the face of them losing the popular will breeds unrests and upheavals, which often disturb the peace of their countries.

And it should not be tied to only the presidents, our ministers and other government officials must do the honourable thing by resigning instead being in office when they are fully aware that they have lost it.

Source: today