Moral and ethical leadership: The case for Africa

Introduction
Moral and ethical leadership is needed in the continent of Africa, more than ever today. The continent faces numerous challenges that have resulted in the hindrance in economic development and the improvement of the living conditions and standards of its people. One of the Key ingredients to this failure is the lack of moral and ethical leadership. Corruption, tribalism, nepotism and the like continue to ravage the continent.
This paper aims to look at the issue of moral and ethical leadership as it is being played out in the African continent and to examine some of the implications of a lack of clear leadership in terms of economic development and the general welfare of the people.
Before looking at the ethical and moral leadership in the context of Africa, it is imperative to define the terms ethics and morality and give a brief overview what has been written about ethical and moral leadership in organizations or institutions today. According to Northouse (2005), leadership ethics as a topic of study is a recent phenomenon. He points out that one of the earliest writings on leadership ethics was as recent as 1996 in the work of a group sponsored by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The groups’ ideas were published in a volume titled Ethic:, the Heart of Leadership (Ciulla, 1998). However, Northouse points out that during the last ten years, interest in the nature of ethical leadership has increased.
Ethics is defined as “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group and also as a set of moral principles or values” (Mariam-Webster’s Collegiate dictionary, 3rd ed.) Morals on the other hand relates to “principles of right and wrong” (Mariam-Webster’s Collegiate dictionary, 3rd ed.). Northouse (2005) states that “ ethical theory provides a system of rules or principles that guide us in making decisions about what is “right or wrong” and “good or bad” in a particular situation” (p. 302). In terms of leadership, Northouse points out that ethics deals with a leader’s behavior and integrity. Practicing ethical leadership leads to the building of strong trust among all stakeholders. This in turn leads to collaboration in undertaking various tasks and meeting the national goals for development. Northouse argues that ethical leadership is a key to effective leadership. To him, since leaders have been vested with power, they ought to use that power in a positive way to influence their followers in significant ways. Northouse says that some of the characteristics of ethical leadership include: “respect for others, service to others, justice, honesty, focus on community building” (p. 310).
Heifetz (1994), another scholar who studied the importance of ethical leadership pointed out that leaders need to use their authority to help their followers deal with the conflicting demands of a changing work environment by creating trusting and supportive environments.
Greenleaf (1970, 1971) was another key figure who argued for ethical leadership through what he called ‘servant leadership’. According to Greenleaf, an effective leader must be ready to serve his followers. Servant leadership allows everybody to participate in the life of the community and helps build trust and respect among all the stakeholders.
An Individual’s values are the basic principles and tenets that guide beliefs, attitudes, and behavior (Gordon, 1996). A value is believed to function as a guide to the individual’s adaptation to the surrounding environment (Kahle and GoffTimmer, 1983). Thus, values are the point on which the individual intersects with society (Grunert and Scherhorn, 1990).
The relationship between leadership and values has long been studied in the management literature (e.g., Barnard, 1938; Selznick, 1957). Selzick (1957) argued that the real task of leadership is to create a social structure of shared values. Schein (1985) notes that top managers attempt to communicate their organizational values to employees to shape behavior and lead the firm. The ethical orientation of the manager, in terms of traits and behaviors, is a key factor in promoting ethical behavior in an organization (Carlson and Perrewe, 1995). An ethically oriented organization is one that has the capacity to reflect on values in the decision making process and establish how managers can use these observations in managing the organization (Caroll, 1987).
Thompson (2004) asserts that leadership is fundamentally a moral endeavor. She notes that “effective leaders are able to engage with others in building, by example and constructive effort, an environment within which individuals and groups are free and encouraged to discern and actualize the right and the good in fulfillment of shared goals, values and purpose” (p.28).
Leadership especially at an institutional level or a national level sets the tone of the ethical orientation of their environments. Leaders communicate and exhibit the values that lead to an ethical orientation in their settings (Hood, 2003). Therefore, when studying leadership in the African context it is important to examine some of the values that African leaders exhibit in their practice of leadership.

Colonial experience
The colonial experience in Africa was not a pleasant one. Because of repression and the way in which the colonial administrators treated the people within their colonies, the leadership model displayed was not a positive one. Often, the colonial leaders used the divide and rule approach to dealing the indigenous people thus breeding mistrust and animosity between different ethnic groups within a country. A good example of this is what happened in Rwanda and Burundi where seeds of distrust were planted within the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that decades later led to devastating massacres of innocent people.
Post-colonial experience
Although, the colonial experience for many African countries was not pleasant and a lot of damage was done in the leadership and governance practices of the varied countries, the post-colonial experience has not been very rosy either. Failure in African leaderships is still evident today four decades after colonialism ended. Numerous scholars have posited different views as to why this has been the case. The general consensus however, has been the notion that a lack of a value driven leadership has been the weakness of most African leadership (Bonsu, 2002). Bonsu notes that “politically, the Sub-Saharan African leadership has always built organizations where networks of trust are confined to families and cronies, and those of mistrust and suspicion are relegated to outside groups” (p. 5) Regional conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone for instance has led to terrible human rights abuses and economically impoverished those nations.
However, a small number of African nations have shown some progress in terms of leadership and economic development during this post colonial period. Botswana for instance has not experienced internal instability since its independence from the British in the mid sixties. This has been attributed to Botswana’s post colonial leaders who fostered and maintained a high moral leadership culture that reduced corruption (Bonsu, 2002).

Governance
Leaders who uphold ethical and moral values help build societies that value good governance. Amoako (2001), states “that good governance generates confidence in institutions and process of government.” He continues to add that good governance creates value for all sectors in an economy including the private sector. Good governance demands peace and security both of which are in scarce supply in many African countries as a result of internal conflicts. However, Amoaki notes that a number of peace efforts have been initiated and moral leadership provided by such luminary figures as Nelson Mandela.

Corruption
Corruption and graft are not unique to the African continent. Corruption exists everywhere and anywhere due to the nature of man and due to the cultural context in which he or she operates. Examples of massive corruption and ethical lapses has been witnessed not only in the U.S., but also in many European countries and even in Asia. However, we find that corruption has often become more institutionalized in some regions as compared to others. In many African countries, corruption has become such an embedded feature in the leadership practice that it has become a very serious and moral crisis.
Because of rampant corruption in many African nations today, people have lost trust in their government. Kenya for example was recently cited as one of the most corrupt nations in the world by Transparency international (Transparency International, Kenya, 2006). A lot of Kenyans interviewed after the corruption index report was released expressed an increased level of frustration as they saw that corruption was increasing every year. In addition, Kenya was recently said to be a high level transit hub of the illegal drug trade. How can such things happen if the elements with the government are not condoning such practices? Such practices cannot happen within a vacuum. Corrupt and greedy government officials must either be colluding with the drug cartels or they must be looking the other way as illegal drugs are transited through the country. The present Kenyan government was elected on the platform of zero tolerance to corruption. However, four years down the road those declarations seem mere platitudes as corruption has hardly been tackled. In fact, what happened once the new government came into power was the inheriting of the corruption rings and corrupt systems of the past regime, to benefit those who now wielded power.
High levels of corruption have led to political elites to embezzle from the national treasury for personal use, thereby undermining the accumulation of financial capital resources essential for economic development (Bonsu, 2002). The late President Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo had, according to one estimate, well over $5 billion in foreign account, an amount the size of Congo’s foreign debt at the time (Economist, 1993). Kauffman (1997) notes that corruption is negatively associated with developmental objectives everywhere. He notes that the results gathered from surveys conducted among high level officials from emerging economies shows that public sector corruption is rated as the most severe developmental obstacle facing their countries
However, the good news is that there are a number of African countries that have been cited in a new World Bank research as among countries which have made progress in improving governance and corruption. These include: Botswana, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Liberia. Moral and ethical leadership will say no to corruption and under hand dealings that are driven by selfishness and greed.

New leadership paradigms for 21st century schools: A case for sub-Saharan Africa

Africa today is groaning under the weight of immense socio-economic challenges. its societal systems are under so much attack and its people are indeed floundering. Part of Africa’s challenges stem from its own history of colonial rule and the subjugation of the African people. Its education history particularly leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the light of the colonial legacy where the colonial administration did not invest seriously in the education of the African people. After independence, the educational gaps in the society were immense. Post independent Africa has not faired much better. Education in many sub-Saharan countries still lags behind. As a result of this history, we find that human capital has not been fully tapped in order to aid the development of the continent.

What is needed is a new paradigm in school leadership and administration in African schools with the goal of transforming school systems and the educational environment as a whole in order to produce graduates of a high caliber who are able to face the 21st century with its opportunities and challenges. What then are the new leadership qualities, skills and capacities that are needed for the prospective school administrator or leader?

The goal of this paper is to examine school leadership through the lense of transformational, contingency, and team leadership theories and draw some lessons that can be applied to school leadership in sub-Saharan Africa.

In this essay, we will look at what others have said about transformational leadership and its implications for school leadership in particular.

In a recent article written by a leading Kenyan newspaper, school heads were interviewed and were asked what were some of the challenges they faced in school leadership. Many answered that there greatest challenge was that they did not feel prepared for the tasks of school management and leadership. Inadequate training and preparation greatly hampered there work. I believe however, that beyond learning the management skills of running a day to day operation of a school. School heads need to cultivate leadership skills that will transform their schools into places of excellence where all involved thrive and excel.

A transformative school leader will be one who will cast the vision about where he or she wants to see the school head. This leader will inspire all the stakeholders in the educational enterprise to seize moments of opportunities for excellence. As a transformative person, the school leader will be ready to take risks, create new visions, and change people’s perception about themselves and their situation. The leader will build new relationships and new structures that fosters a healthy learning climate. The leader will also work at creating a new culture that is open to new ideas and approaches that enhances the school operates.

The 21st century school leaders must learn to be collaborators and co-participants with all the stakeholders in the educational community, including parents, children, policy makers and other community leaders. School leaders can gain tremendous insight by listening and drawing ideas from a wide variety of people in order to enhance the effectiveness of schools. Effective school leaders will be those who will be able to cope with conflict, set new directions, align resources and inspire all stakeholders. They will empower all stakeholders to create longterm vision, define and clarify problems and opportunities, create and commit to improvement strategies and take action. Such leaders will require courage, commitment, and empathy.
One of the major problems that has plagued school leadership in many sub-Saharan countries is the use of top-down approach to leadership where it is assumed that the boss knows it all and he or she should be the one to come up with all the solutions. This, has resulted in ineffective school performance and massive failure. Many teachers and heads acknowledge that this has been the scenario for decades. Nevertheless, many have come to realize that this practice needs to change. Many African schools are now adopting bottom-up approach to educational leadership....You can request for a copy of this whole paper from: mkimosop@hotmail.com

"Let this Pan African Parliament be the voice of the poor. Let us be open to allow the voices of those who speak through us be heard,"

Nelson Mandela challenging the members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) while launching the Trust Fund at the seat of the august House in Midrand, South Africa.

For details go to:
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=85547

The launching of the Trust Fund triggers many things to many people. Personally, it swings my mind back to the pet subject of many in Africa—corruption! Corruption is nothing new in Africa. Unfortunately, there is a prevalent consciousness that corruption has been on the increase on the continent over the past 40 years. Undoubtedly, bribery is not new to the region, but substantial graft seems to have multiplied, as suggested by scandals in many African countries. Assuming that the observation of amplified corruption mirror a real vice, and is not due simply to enhanced reporting and closer scrutiny by a more observant public, what are the focal reasons behind this increase? Current explanations tend to stress heightened opportunities for extracting bribes more than incentives for doing so. As regards the former, many scholars have pointed to growing state interventionism, which gives bureaucrats and politicians broad discretion over appealingly huge resources. Other scholars, by contrast, have pointed to the recent wave of neoliberal reforms, during which bureaucrats and politicians disposed of huge portions of public property, often with limited transparency. While these factors were at work in some cases, they do not grant an adequate explanation for the recent rise of corruption. Corruption can result from a multiplicity of causes or combinations of causes.

Corruption may be defined as the provision of material benefits to politicians and public officials in exchange for illicit influence over their decisions. The corruptor uses private benefits to induce a public decision maker to bend or break formal rules of procedure in order to confer on the corruptor special favors in the adjudication of rights or the allocation of resources. Although it may be tolerated by a country's citizens, corruption is, by definition, illegal. It is important to distinguish corruption, which entails the illegal sale of special favors, from political patronage, which occurs when public decision makers use their legal margin of discretion to confer favors on their friends and followers without receiving material benefits in return. Corruption can have two different purposes. Politicians and public officials may sell favorable decisions in order to accumulate funds for political reasons, such as a future election campaign. They may also use bribes to accumulate private wealth. Of course, the boundary between political and personal corruption is fluid.

As regards increased enticement for corruption, a prime suspect is the wave of democratization that has swept across Africa over the last 20 years. By dispersing power and requiring the consent of several institutions in decision making, the return of democracy has extended the variety of performers who can demand bribes. Also over the past 20 years, personalistic leaders with mass swaying charisma have sought to bypass established political parties and interest groups in order to reach "the people" through direct, most often televised, appeals aimed at building up a loyal following from scratch. Because its methods are costly, the new media-based politics has given ambitious politicians much higher incentives to resort to corruption.

With this in mind, I call upon all young leaders in Africa to take the challenge by Retired South African President Nelson Mandela when he led members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in launching the Trust Fund seriously. We understand that the fund will act as the basket for pooling assistance from member states of the African Union (AU), companies and individuals from the continent. It will also allow PAP to seek financial and related support from foreign governments and organizations for implementation of its programmes. This is a very noble goal which ought to be fought for by all mindful and patriotic Africans. Indeed the African leaders who attended that function and heard that challenge from Nelson Mandela owe it to the African continent to respect and honor our statesman. He is our role model in many ways. He sacrificed his own life to “emancipate’ Africa yet when he ascended to power he did not exemplify greed and arrogance like many of the African leaders.

Visit this site for some interesting stuff in the women's world: http://wworld.org/programs/newItem.asp?eventID=40

What is Africa lacking? Moral leaders with a clear concept about positive development!

Here are some amazing eye-opening facts-thanks to Dr.Steve Van Horn:

· The total income of all 55 African countries is a little more than that of Belgium.
· Africa is the world's most indebted and aid-dependent region.
· 17% of the African GNP goes towards debt repayment.
· The whole continent has fewer paved roads than Poland alone.
· Africa is poorer than it was 40 years ago.
· African economies must grow at 5% annually just to maintain the current level of poverty.
· Africa looses 20,000 skilled professionals a year due to economic hardship.
· Africa has less than 10% of the world's population but 70% of the world's total HIV infection.
· 1999 world financial reports indicate that 39% of all African GNP is taken and deposited in foreign banks by selfish and corrupt leaders.
· Nigeria has more than 110 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserve and about 10 trillion cubic feet of oil reserve, but also has an external debt of $50 billion.
· Nigeria alone produces 50% of the United States' petroleum needs.
· The continent has one of the largest water and river systems in the world, yet it suffers from drought and insufficient hydro electricity.
· A recent computer analysis of the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) concluded that no one could survive there.
· By 1958, the DRC was producing 50% of the world's uranium, 75% of the world's cobalt, 70% of he world's industrial diamonds, and it was the world's largest producer of rubber. But the average income per capita in the DRC is less than 1% of that in the United States.
· With good leadership, and good resource management the DRC could feed up to 2/3 of Africa all by itself.

Friends:
With all of this potential, Africa has the world's poorest of the poor. What is Africa lacking? Why can't the situation change in such a "Christianized" populace? Who are the Christians in Africa and what are they doing?

Kenyan Traditional Family Patterns

Families from time immemorial have formed the core component of any society. From creation, the Lord ordained the family as the center for nurture and instruction. The family was established by God as a necessary structure for human living. During biblical times and especially in ancient Israel, we see how the family formed the glue that kept the community together.

Today, the family remains as important as it was in biblical times. Its mission remains just as critical in these present times, especially as the world changes at a phenomenal rate and people and communities are impacted in tremendous ways.

In thinking about the mission of the family, in particular, the Christian family today, we look to what God has mandated the family members to do and accomplish in his name. Apart from its role of nurture and instruction God calls the family and its members to be his witnesses to a world that does not know him. God calls the Christian family to be his evangelists and ambassadors to His world, to bring his gospel of reconciliation.

However, when we look at the mission of the family in the context of today's world, we find that the family is confronted by many challenges. Secularism, materialism, consumerism, urbanization, crime, and poverty are on the rise in every corner of the world. How can families understand their roles and tasks or remain true to their mission in the light of what confronts them on a daily basis?

There is, however, hope for the family, and in spite of the challenges the family has an exciting role to play today in the extension of the kingdom of God.

In looking at the mission of the family from a Kenyan perspective, we explore all these angles and the societal context in which the modern family exist and also look at the solutions and ways to support the family as it strives to be a beacon of hope and an agent of community transformation. To read more go to: http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=6089

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