Professor of African Studies at the University of Basel and MIASA Fellow, Prof. Elisio Macamo has intimated that ethical conduct and discipline among leaders are key traits necessary in promoting sustainable governance on the African continent.
The call comes on the back of concerns on how African countries, through leadership, are struggling to create equitable societies for their citizens to reap the full dividends of democracy.
He was speaking at the 2023 Mid-Term Conference which was held at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) at the University of Ghana. The conference was held to assess the significant contributions of the Institute’s programmes and policies have contributed to shaping public policy and knowledge generation on the continent with a special focus on the Social sciences.
The three-day conference which drew a large spread of audience cutting across academia , public policy experts and journalists from across the globe was on the theme ‘Sustainable Governance in A Time of Global Flux ; Issues, Concepts and Future Directions’.
Speaking at the well attended and colorful event, the keynote speaker, Prof. Elisio Macamo insinuated that morality is key in promoting sustainable governance in Africa in order to ensure that public officials make judicious use of resources.
According to him, that would mean that these resources would further be used to create equitable societies where the basic amenities are present to all individuals regardless of their social status.
“Ethical conduct and principled leadership are key traits of promoting sustainable governance on our continent which includes all stakeholders including academia as we seek to shape up our societies into transformative environments for opportunities and growth. I have grown up in Mozambique in the heady days of the post independence era of Africa where like most the newly independent countries like Ghana , Nigeria ,Guinea and the like , the very natives who led the fight against freedom from the colonial masters were equally guilty of using the same oppressive methods they once criticized to silence their own citizens who were not in agreement with their leadership styles and such selfish actions seemed to please their egos.”
“We must be honest enough to see leadership as service on our continent and must be seen to be striving to work for the collective benefit of our countries instead of seeing power as a means to promote individualistic and personal goals.”
Prof. Macamo added that the adoption of simple moral codes like integrity and promise keeping to the citizens would prompt leaders to also foster a sense of belongingness in pulling citizens into a common direction.
“In our [daily] lives, in as much as we demand more from leaders in society, it is important that to build a trustworthy society, middle class citizens as well as political leaders and captains of smaller groups in society are to hold dear time tested principles of integrity and promise keeping to be able to earn respect where actions of leaders can be shining examples in how societies ought to function sustainably.”
Elisio Macamo is an Associate Professor of African Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Until 2009, he taught Developmental Sociology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany , where he was part of the Founding member of the university’s Graduate School Of African Studies.
Elisio Macamo was born and grew up in Mozambique, studied in Maputo as well as Salford and London (England) , Bayreuth (Germany).
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Story by: Sika Togoh | univers.ug.edu.gh
