CHALLENGES TO GOOD GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

[Emmanuel Udogu]

                         GOOD VS. BAD GOVERNANCE

  FROM THE AFRICAN UNION TO AFRICAN  LEADERS AND GOVERNMENTS

THEE MOMBASA DECLARATION AND THE CODE OF AFRICAN LEADERSHIP   OF MARCH 20, 2004.

Against the backdrop of the current political developments in Africa, I humbly share these excerpts, from the Mombasa Declaration, with you and AFRICAN LEADERS:

Good leaders globally guide governments of nation-states to perform effectively for their citizens. They deliver high security for the state and the person; a functioning rule of law, education; health; and a framework conducive to economic growth. They ensure effective arteries of commerce and enshrine personal and human freedoms. They empower civil society and protect the environmental commons. Crucially, good leaders also provide their citizens with a sense of belonging to a national enterprise of which everyone can be proud. They knit rather than unravel their nations and seek to be remembered for how they have bettered the real lives of the governed rather than the fortunes of the few. (1)

On the flipside of good governance is bad governance, and the Mombasa Declaration proclaims:

Less benevolent, even malevolent leaders deliver far less by way of performance. Under their stewardship, roads fall into disrepair, currencies depreciate and real prices inflate, health services weaken, life expectancies slump, people go hungry, schooling standards fall, civil society becomes more beleaguered, the quest for personal and national prosperity slows, crime rate escalates, and overall security becomes more tenuous. Corruption grows. Funds flow out of the country into hidden bank accounts. Discrimination against minorities becomes prevalent, civil wars begin….(2)

1. The Mombasa Declaration of 20 March 2004. http://www.google.com.search?hI=the+Mombasa+Declaration&btnG-Google+Search 

2. Robert I. Rotberg, Africa: Progress and Problems of Governance and Leadership in Africa (Philadelphia, PA: Mason Crest Publishers, 2007), p. 34; E. Ike Udogu, “The Issue of Leadership in the Third World: What is to be done?” Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXV, No. 1 (2007): 18.

Ike Udogu