Mandela and Mugabe: Service vsPower

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Mandela and Mugabe: Service vsPower

Journal Title: IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science - Year 2018, Vol 23, Issue 5

Abstract

It is quite a commonplace truth to assert that one of the prominent characters who have impacted the social and political sphere of the African continent in the late century is the now departed South African leader, Nelson Mandela, referred to asthe African of the century1 by the news writer François Soudan (JeuneAfrique hors série, 2013). As a young militant of the African National Congress (ANC) and a committed partisan of the struggle for equality between blacks and whites inapartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela’s convictions made him spend an important part of his life in prison. But his hope and self-determination triumphed over the apartheid regime, and true democracy eventually found its way towards the advent of a multiracial South Africa in the early 1990s. Hailed and praised throughout the continent as the champion of democracy and a good example of propermanagement and detachment vis-à-vis state power, Mandela however appears to be hard to imitate. Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean veteran who had known a similar trajectory in the struggle for the liberation of South Rhodesia fell short in completing his heroic destiny as he trapped himself in the waves of political power, up until 21 November 2017 when he was forced to quit his privileged position. Mandela and Mugabe were two committed leaders indeed. However, the ethical standards set by the one seemed to be too high for the other. This article attempts to shed light on the administrative style of the two former Heads of States, while making a comparison of their personalities with particular regard to their approach to power, in the guise of service.

Authors and Affiliations

Oladjidé Moutinou Soumanou

Keywords

EP ID EP418896
DOI 10.9790/0837-2305045154.
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