If Africa leaders think like Thomas Sakara

A friend sent me a wacky joke through WhatsApp a couple of days ago. It was about a group of politicians who were attending a rally. But unfortunately, their plane suffered a technical hitch and fell into a farmland. The farmer apparently called the police and reported the accident but was quick to add that he had interred all of them.

Surprised by this answer, the police asked the farmer whether all the politicians died instantly.  The farmer gave rib-cracking answer that “some of them were shouting and crying, help me! help me! we are not dead yet, but you know politicians, they can’t be trusted, so I buried them.” 

As funny as this joke may seem, it projects some level of perception that many people hold about politicians. Today, many technocrats and well-grounded people who could contribute meaningful to solve many of our problems are dragging their feet to venture into politics. This is as a result of the negative perceptions that have come to be associated with politics.

As the sages of old advice, do we blame the vulture for perching on the carcass? If the demeanour of our politicians seem to support the view that politics is a game of loot and share why would men of integrity dabble in this game?

But is this assertion entirely true? Maybe not! The story of one of Africa's greatest Pan-African, Thomas Sakara, gives a contrary view of this assertion.

His story stands parallel to former Ghana's president, Jerry Rawlings. Apart from their military background and their sometime iron fist on power, they both were charismatic leaders who identified themselves with the common people and wouldn’t mind descending into the gutters whenever it mattered.

The difference between these two men is that Sakara got betrayed by his bosom friend Blaise Compaore who connived with the French government and overthrew him while Rawlings enjoyed a longer term in office.

The other difference between these men is the different economic policies and political directions that each of them trekked. Sakara came into power through a widely supported revolution in the former Upper Volta. When he came to power, he changed the name "Upper Volta" to "Burkisna Faso", meaning “land of upright men”. The charismatic leader transformed the desert-threatened nation with his sometime harsh yet result-driven economic policies.

To promote economic equalities, he removed all privileges enjoyed by his ministers and reduced their salaries drastically. He ensured his minister flew in economy class instead of the luxurious but expensive first class. Ministers were forced to ride in mercedes cars instead of the expensive chauffeur-driven convoys.

But his best policy, which is by far the best policy by an African leader, is his introduction of local fabric as official wear for public servants which became known as “Faso Dani Fani”. That boosted the local fabric industry and reduced importation. He paid unannounced visits to public institutions to ensure that the local fabric was worn.

Sakara was not a Harvard trained development economist nor was he an expert in governance but he brought hope to his people.That single policy and many others changed the economic fortunes of the desert-stricken country into a nation blossoming with hope until he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d'état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987.

A week before his murder, he declared: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas". And indeed his ideas still lingers on many years after his death.

Many years down the lane, most African leaders have not learnt a clue from this leader. Instead, they preside over political enterprises with bankrollers and have turned politics into a commercial venture. Their aim is to make money for themselves at the neglect of the suffering masses.

Almost all Africa economies find it difficult to maintain their currencies’ strength against the dollar. But the reason for this trend does not require a sophisticated economic diagram to explain. Africa is basically an import driven economy. Almost everything is imported from outside the continent. This has resulted not only in the weakening of our currencies but has also exacerbated unemployment on the continent.

Ghana for instance, has suffered a weak performing currency for years now and successive governments have embarked on various interventions to boost export while encouraging people to patronize locally produced products but to no avail.

However, our efforts can be equated to giving paracetamol to a malaria patient. It will only give temporaryrespite to the patient but it cannot certainly cure the malaria.The only way we can boost our currencies is to add value to our export. This will help us create more jobs for the teeming youth as well as increase our export. All Africa leaders would tell you they know these ideas already. If so, Why are we not developing?

If our governments are serious about strengthening our currencies, then we must consume what we produce. As Africans, we have cottage industries specialised in the production of kente, tie and dye, batik,fugu and even in some cases textile industries. What Africa need is strict legislations which would ensure that our local fabrics are used as official wear by all public and even private sector employees. This will help us revive our textile industries which are folding up because of our insatiable demand for "broniwawu" or so-called designer wears.

The China we see today developed out of its culture. A Chinese man will choose the Chinese traditional stick for eating over cutlery. Have we ever imagined the number of employment that the Chinese eating stick industry creates and the revenue it contributes to China’s economy?

Just recently, African leaders returned from a begging tour, in what has been euphemistically called Indian-African Summit. Very soon you will see them in China or Europe, but the hard truth is that these countries developed out of their culture! 

The solutions to our problems are not far to fetch. It only requires strong leadership to ensure our forwards move. If we don’t curtail our penchant for foreign products, we can implement all the best economic policies but we will achieve nothing!

Ghana has witnessed strike upon strike for some time now. Sometimes, one thought some those strikes were politically motivated, but no! If you live in a country were a minister’s wardrobe allowance is fatter than graduate teacher’s salary which is sometimes unpaid for months, then, you don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you we are creating a fertile ground for corruption.After all, a hungry man is an angry man.

Some people are are born greed but some too become thieves because of some harsh realities. If  the gap between the salary of the teacher in parliament and the teacher in the classroom becomes reasonable, the teacher in the classroom will see the need to be patriotic.

When doctors in Ghana went on strike recently to demand conditions of service, I listened to the president of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Opoku Adu-Sei and he referred to a particular circulation on social media which was said to be the salary and benefits of our MP’s and minister. He then questioned why doctors didn’t deserve a similar salivating package. Obviously, he was comparing their condition of service with that of ministers and saw no point to be believe that our purse were empty.

Here's a quote from the FAO: "Poverty cannot be eradicated without addressing the pervasive inequalities in incomes and economic opportunities between and within countries, between rural and urban areas, and between men and women. Reducing such inequalities will need to start with improving access for the poor to productive resources, basic services and social protection."

If we want to develop, let's walk the talk!

Writer: Abdul-Karim Mohammed Awaf
National Service Person