NE Special Tribute
In South Africa they call him Tata which translated means father,Mandela has been taken as the father of the nation which managed to raise from the apartheid regime that was oppressive to the black population.
For 27 years the young vibrant yet defiant lawyer Nelson Mandela was taken into custody for treason,allegedly he had planned to overthrow the government. Apartheid was real in the times because of the multi racial nature of the country,the blacks were facing oppression and discrimination from the whites.
Mandela stood against the forces and until 1990 he spent 27 years of his life in jail as the price for fighting apartheid,the only present African leader who comes close in terms of staying in prison with unjustifiable crimes is Kenya’s Raila Odinga who was also jailed for planning a government’s overthrowing.
On 5th Dec,the life of Mandela came to its end,leaders,celebrities around the globe sent their condolence messages filled with praise to the leader. Social media on the other hand went abuzz with messages praising and mourning his death streaming in at a magic speed. These goes to show how much valued Mandela was to the world.
While camping and mourning around his home in South Africa,a popular chant amongst the swollen crowd goes,”you are the greatest,no one else like you tata”
But what exactly made Mandela an outstanding leader from a continent whose leaders are stereotyped with oppressive nature and negative stunts giving them a bad name? The answer is simple,with Mandela it was never business as usual.
Mandela ruled for the shortest time. This is alien in Africa,leaders like leech cling into power for so long like their lives depends on it. Zimbabwe have had to put up with Mugabe for the longest time ever,he is 85 but he already has plans of vying for another term,matter of fact,Mugabe is on record saying only death will oust him off power,close home Moi ruled for 24 years and its clear he didn’t want to leave,Kibaki forced himself for a second term.
Mandela after being released from prison,ascended into power becoming the first black president in S.A between 1994-99 he only stayed on power for 5 years. Mark you he was ordained for that seat and would easily cling unto it for as long as he wished but he didn’t.
Voluntary giving up of power and a smooth transition. Again for other countries this is normal but in Africa this is unusual. Mandela refused to vie for another term which he would win with landslide but instead gave it up to his deputy Thambo Mbeki of ANC and even had a smooth power transition to ice it up.
There is a popular saying that African presidents are not elected out,they get removed, Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast had to be physically removed out of power by armed rebels after he swore with his blood to hold on to power even after being defeated clearly with his opponent on the election,Museveni of Uganda has been frustrating and by using his executive powers been literally whipping arch rival Besigye from gliding into power,Moi of Kenya even after 24 years in power had a problem letting go,he also was literally whisked out of the statehouse. The list is endless. Kibaki was not ready to let power slide and after”winning” the second term,he quickly held swearing ceremony at night!
Corruption and scandals free. Nelson Mandela in his political history,has managed to veer off from bad publicity,corruption cases which is the order of the day for many African presidents. Starting with home former presidents Moi and Kibaki all have traces of corruption cases on them,current president Uhuru Kenyatta has hefty,starting from his ministerial days to now ICC cases. Museveni is said to arrogantly place his relatives in key government positions.
Anti-Nepotism and non discriminatory nature. Mandela exhibited these traits. When he finally ascended into power he constituted a national phase government,including all the races as a measure of national cohesion,keeping in mind that the whites had oppressed the blacks so he would have easily sidelined them and let the blacks have a blast but that was never the case.
His government comprised of everyone. Nepotism is still a problem in Africa,the winner takes it all philosophy thrives deep,when it gets to key government appointments it is no secret especially in Kenya that nepotism and tribalism plays the deciding factor,only a blind eye for example would miss to note that key security positions for example are all occupied by men from the president’s tribe and this type of appointment reflects in most of Africa countries.
Selflessness and humbleness. Mandela’s family is not even amongst the richest in that country but why? Simple unlike other presidents who milks the economies dry,Mandela did not engage himself in public funds looting in his five years in office.
Majority of presidents in Africa also ranks top amongst richest in the respective countries,staying at home,the Kenyatta’s,Moi’s,Kibaki’s are amongst the top richest families with millions and million of accumulated wealth all of which in one way or the other can be attributed to their hold of power.
The list goes on and one but the simple writing on the wall is,he is the greatest that will ever be,at least in our times. RIP Mandela.
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