LEGENDARY AFRICAN LEADERS

[GeorginaMakena]

The dearth of true leaders who exude great moral strength may make us forget the great leaders we've had in Africa. My personal favorite is the late Thomas Sankara former President of Bukina Faso its hard to imagine such African leaders existed . Who is your favorite leader and why?


Why would one rave so much about Thomas Isidore Sankara? At his time, everyone referred to him as the Afrika's Che Guevara. He was 33 when he took over the country's presidency (and still had time too). This is what he did in 4 years in power of Burkina Faso
· He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers.
· He reduced the salaries of well-off public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets.
· He redistributed land from the feudal landlords to the peasants. Wheat production increased from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare, making the country food self-sufficient.
· He opposed foreign aid, saying that "he who feeds you, controls you."
· He spoke in forums like the Organization of African Unity against what he described as neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance.
· He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt. He argued that the poor and exploited did not have an obligation to repay money to the rich and exploiting.
· In Ouagadougou, Sankara converted the army's provisioning store into a state-owned supermarket open to everyone (the first supermarket in the country).
· He forced well-off civil servants to pay one month's salary to public projects.
· He refused to use the air conditioning in his office on the grounds that such luxury was not available to anyone but a handful of Burkinabes.
· As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge and a broken freezer.
· A motorcyclist himself, he formed an all-women motorcycle personal guard.
· He required public servants to wear a traditional tunic, woven from Burkinabe cotton and sewn by Burkinabe craftsmen
· He was known for jogging unaccompanied through Ouagadougou in his track suit and posing in his tailored military fatigues, with his mother-of-pearl pistol.
· When asked why he didn't want his portrait hung in public places, as was the norm for other African leaders, Sankara replied "There are seven million Thomas Sankaras."
· An accomplished guitarist, he wrote the new national anthem himself
· Sankara was the first African leader to appoint women to major cabinet positions and to recruit them actively for the military

 

[Meria Mata]

tuwekee brief history ya Samora Machel

 

[kah tony]

Mine is Thomas Sankara. Quite surprising the guy who posted similar thing yesterday because his main aim was to slander our founding father Mzee forgot to mention Sankara.

Some times I ask if we are children of a lesser god because he was killed like an animal despite his selflessness and efforts to improve lives of his people.

 

[Mathaais]

Mine is Jerry Rawlings.
The guy could even go to the farms and organize farmers for a mass planting session.
Na sitaki kuskia mtu akisema Moi also built gabbions.

 

[GeorginaMakena]

tuwekee brief history ya Samora Machel

Samora Machel was a Mozambican revolutionary leader and military commander who led the Mozambican people in their struggle for independence from Portugal, eventually becoming the country’s first president. Born to poor parents, under the Portuguese rule, he grew up experiencing discrimination and ill-treatment in his own country. The Portuguese forced the poor farmers to grow cotton instead of food crops and curbed the natives’ right to access higher education. Living under the Portuguese’s repressive rule made him a revolutionary who realized that it was his life’s true calling to fight for the independence of his country. In order to prepare for his future activities, he left Mozambique and traveled to other African countries from where he received military training. He returned to his motherland and led the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO)’s first guerilla attack against the Portuguese. He became the commander and chief of the FRELIMO army and led his men by example in combats. After years of struggle, the Portuguese were forced to leave Mozambique, and Machel’s new revolutionary government took over. He became independent Mozambique’s first president and was greatly loved and respected by his fellow countrymen. He was later killed in a controversial plane crash on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in 1986.

 

[Meria Mata]

View attachment 123174

Samora Machel was a Mozambican revolutionary leader and military commander who led the Mozambican people in their struggle for independence from Portugal, eventually becoming the country’s first president. Born to poor parents, under the Portuguese rule, he grew up experiencing discrimination and ill-treatment in his own country. The Portuguese forced the poor farmers to grow cotton instead of food crops and curbed the natives’ right to access higher education. Living under the Portuguese’s repressive rule made him a revolutionary who realized that it was his life’s true calling to fight for the independence of his country. In order to prepare for his future activities, he left Mozambique and traveled to other African countries from where he received military training. He returned to his motherland and led the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO)’s first guerilla attack against the Portuguese. He became the commander and chief of the FRELIMO army and led his men by example in combats. After years of struggle, the Portuguese were forced to leave Mozambique, and Machel’s new revolutionary government took over. He became independent Mozambique’s first president and was greatly loved and respected by his fellow countrymen. He was later killed in a controversial plane crash on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in 1986.

asante, sasa weka Jonas Savimbi

 

[GeorginaMakena]

Sankara the late Burkina Faso president’s absolute commitment to the upliftment and equality of women was evident. “The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or because of a surge of human compassion,” Sankara said. “It is a basic necessity for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold up the other half of the sky.”

“feminism was a core element of political ideology” for Sankara. His government sought to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages – and polygamy. Women were encouraged to return to work and school after bearing children, and Sankara actively sought out women to join both his cabinet and his military. The government also lobbied hard for the use of contraception. Perhaps most innovatively and unusually, in 1984 Sankara organised a day where men were encouraged to take on women’s roles – preparing meals, for instance, and going to the market – in order to personally experience conditions faced by women.

In other words, Sankara didn’t simply rail against violence against women or pay lip service to the need for gender parity. He was, to quote writer Sokari Ekrine, “meticulous in explaining class relations and the everyday ways in which African masculinities work in collaboration with capital in exploiting women’s labour and abuse of their dignity”.

 

[Lemah]

Marcus Garvey. Father of the Black Nation

 

[pamba]

Sankara the late Burkina Faso president’s absolute commitment to the upliftment and equality of women was evident. “The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or because of a surge of human compassion,” Sankara said. “It is a basic necessity for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold up the other half of the sky.”

“feminism was a core element of political ideology” for Sankara. His government sought to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages – and polygamy. Women were encouraged to return to work and school after bearing children, and Sankara actively sought out women to join both his cabinet and his military. The government also lobbied hard for the use of contraception. Perhaps most innovatively and unusually, in 1984 Sankara organised a day where men were encouraged to take on women’s roles – preparing meals, for instance, and going to the market – in order to personally experience conditions faced by women.

In other words, Sankara didn’t simply rail against violence against women or pay lip service to the need for gender parity. He was, to quote writer Sokari Ekrine, “meticulous in explaining class relations and the everyday ways in which African masculinities work in collaboration with capital in exploiting women’s labour and abuse of their dignity”.

Leta sasa ya dos Santos na ikuwe summary.

 

[Koolibah]

Sankara: we shall not pay
Rawlings: over throws govt and goes back to the barracks

 

[Koolibah]

Mine is Jerry Rawlings.
The guy could even go to the farms and organize farmers for a mass planting session.
Na sitaki kuskia mtu akisema Moi also built gabbions.

While in the farms he would also teach people how to use a gun in what he called "democratisation of violence"

 

[Koolibah]

Sankara the late Burkina Faso president’s absolute commitment to the upliftment and equality of women was evident. “The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or because of a surge of human compassion,” Sankara said. “It is a basic necessity for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold up the other half of the sky.”

“feminism was a core element of political ideology” for Sankara. His government sought to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages – and polygamy. Women were encouraged to return to work and school after bearing children, and Sankara actively sought out women to join both his cabinet and his military. The government also lobbied hard for the use of contraception. Perhaps most innovatively and unusually, in 1984 Sankara organised a day where men were encouraged to take on women’s roles – preparing meals, for instance, and going to the market – in order to personally experience conditions faced by women.

In other words, Sankara didn’t simply rail against violence against women or pay lip service to the need for gender parity. He was, to quote writer Sokari Ekrine, “meticulous in explaining class relations and the everyday ways in which African masculinities work in collaboration with capital in exploiting women’s labour and abuse of their dignity”.

His speech at the OAU explaining Africa's economic debt and the way forward was revolutionary and irked the west who decided to sponsor his relarive Blaise Campaore to overthrow him. And the fact that after overthrowing the government he had no intention of being president but was prevailed upon by his colleagues.

 

[Ubongo]

Remember Mobutu Se seko was still from our heritage, he sold his own country