Many African politicians are dictators (e.g. Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe) who enrich themselves at the expense of their subjects. Do you think that these leaders are a result of democracy being introduced by the colonial powers too early or in an inadequate way? Do you think traditional leaders would have done a better job in a truly African political system with elders etc.?
7) Politics
Many African politicians are dictators (e.g. Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe) who enrich themselves at the expense of their subjects. Do you think that these leaders are a result of democracy being introduced by the colonial powers too early or in an inadequate way? Do you think traditional leaders would have done a better job in a truly African political system with elders etc.?
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No, i don't think they could have done a good job either. Leadership is more than just the political scenario, it depends on one's personality. People like Mugabe are just selfish and want to step on everyone indirectly and because there is no one courageous enough to come out and oppose him, he even feels more superior. Some of the known traditional leaders were just like Mugabe but because of the fact that there was no one to write the history down, we just assume they were good. Personally my grandparents have told me about what used to happen, but all the same i don't think traditional leaders could have done better.
I think Catherine is right. However, I'd like to add something to this:
The colonial powers couldn't do anything about us chosing the wrong leaders, but:
they didn't do anything against them when they were abusing human rights and exploiting their subjects. And even worse, during the Cold War they even supported them as long as they stayed on the "right side". They just looked the other way when these leaders turned out to be real sadistic dictators.
So, one can maybe say that the colonial powers did their share in making it possible for such dictators to gain ground in our political systems.
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