Latest News

This essay was originally written by me as part of my required coursework for the 2017 Tutu Leadership Programme.  It looks at the use of African 'culture' as an excuse for poor leadership.

He is supposed to be a leader in public office, in Africa. As soon as he was elected or nominated, he told his first wife that he was marrying an additional one and a third followed soon after that. His children were born in quick succession of each other and he boasts that he has fathered more children than the number of players who make up a soccer team. Seventeen, to be exact. On a typical day, he could easily wake up in one home, have lunch in another, and sleep at his third wife’s house. It is not necessarily true that his religion allows polygamy. He says it’s part of his “culture”.

2008 Tutu Fellow Siza Majola makes the case in an essay written for African Business that stakeholder relationships could be managed in an African manner using practices from the Bafokeng.  They survived the negative effects of colonialism and apartheid and have emerged into the 21st century with a brighter future as the owners of vast mineral-rich land holdings.

When puberty hit, so did acne. I had really bad skin and it made me feel ugly. As I grew older, I learnt to cover it up with makeup. I did not go anywhere without make up on. I still have bad skin, but at least now I am prepared to go to the gym without any makeup on, a small victory.

Being a leader and having influence often involves taking face-saving measures, in order to give the appearance of strength.

In an essay in African Business, 2014 Tutu Fellow Linda Kasonde says that the role of governments is to manage institutions that promote development, good governance and the rule of law, while making efforts to empower their citizens and increase their role in the governance of the country. This is not only because that is in line with modern trends, but also because it is necessary in any country aspiring to attain the highest standards of economic development, democracy and good governance.  She makes the point that without the rule of law in democratic governance, Africa risks seeing the sun set on gains made through democracy on the continent.

The second essay written by the 2017 Tutu Fellows we are publishing is a brilliantly written piece by Rori Tshabalala. Rori posits that in spite of a checkered and painful past, Africa still preserves its history not as a past to be learnt from but as a persistent present to be tolerated, reinforced, normalized and passed on to future generations. He suggests that rather than repeating and emotionalising the past we need to summon the courage to learn the painful history but equip the people with the skills and knowledge to capture the promise and potential of the future so they may never suffer the humiliation that their forebears suffered.

Each of the 2017 Tutu Fellows were required to submit an essay on leadership in Africa. There were a number of excellent essays written, as can be expected from a specially-selected group of Africa’s finest emerging leaders. This essay by Sam Ngcolomba is the first of several we will publish over the next few months. She starts with an amazing story of courage and leadership by a young girl, and goes on to challenge the foundations of established leadership on the continent.

The following essay was submitted by Tutu Fellow Uzodinma Iweala as a thought piece for the 2015 Tutu Leadership Programme and garnered a second place.  In it, he asks what it is to be a Nigerian and what are the common threads, the common narratives - myths, if you wish - that all Nigerians need  to create and sustain a common nationality.

This essay by Samah Salman uses U.S. President Barack Obama's 2015 visit to East Africa as a vehicle to uncover some of his observations on African leadership.  It is one of the many excellent essays submitted by Fellows this year.  The essays form part of the African Leadership Institute’s annual Tutu Fellows Leadership programme.

Salman looks at Obama’s admiration for and critique of African traditions through the lens of leadership. Using his visit as a point of departure, Salman argues that bad leadership in Africa is no longer political, but cultural. Conversely, good leadership can be fostered as a cultural opportunity. She makes the case that in order for Africa’s demographic dividend to materialize, the path to consistent, good leadership will require education to be a transformational element for this kind of socio-cultural shift.