RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 2011 Vol 35, Featured Articles, Human rights and abuse
Aged Leaders like Mugabe, 'a disservice to Africa'
Most African leaders are more advanced in age as compared to their counterparts in the western and developed world. Speaking with Asempa news, Dr Ackom said the electorate need to take into consideration the ages of candidates before they vote them into power.
The political analyst and Head of the Graduate School of Leadership and Governance at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Dr Kwaku Osei Ackom has suggested that African youth should be encouraged to take leadership roles on the continent.
"A survey has shown that the average age of African leaders is around eighty while those in the western world hover around forty-six and forty-seven".
He said looking at the current situation on the African continent most leaders have stayed for long in power though they are well advanced in age and unwilling to relinquish their positions.
He cited Robert Mugabe and Abdoulaye Wade of Mozambique and Senegal respectively as clear cases in point in that regard.
According to him, it is better to have leaders whose ages range between forty and sixty five years. This he said is because after seventy he believes they need to retire and rather play advisory roles or serve as watch dogs.
He explained that there is no need for legislation on the issue but that everyone has to come to terms with the fact that humans grow weaker as they advance in years.
African leaders themselves must voluntarily retire to pave the way for younger people to man the affairs of the continent, he advised.
Dr Ackom further noted that when leaders are advanced in age they become susceptible to the manipulations and dictates of people around them which is contrary to young leaders who are more efficient and able to stick to their guns.
He maintained that African youth must be given the necessary encouragement to steer the affairs of their respective nations as practiced in the Diaspora.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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