


Why Africa needs more cabbage


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Some esteemed comentators on this article believe bombastic leadership and jazz hands showmanship is the tonic required by poor African nations beleaguered by corruption. Indeed even the charge that Mwanawasa's administration, unadorned as it was by charisma and PR, was no better than the despotic regime(I hesitate to call it rule) of Robert Mugabe, was made. This perspective unfortunatley misses the point. 'Nation building' as characterised in this thread, has in the western world occured through sober, measured and responsible government. To a similar degree this has been the case for Asian nations. I cite South Korea. It is leadership in this vein which Mr. Mwanawasa had shown during a tenure focused on one of the principle blocks to a nation's development, graft. His regional responsibilities, representing Zambia in SADC and the AU, also reflected a genuine concern in removing obstacles to Africa's progression through criticism of Mugabe's regime. My thoughts on his regional significance regarding the 'Zimbabwe crisis' are expanded upon at www.gwlewis.wordpress.com (see a Deficit of Principles).
In short Levy Mwanawasa demonstarted an accute knowledge of the instruments nation building and his actions reflect a genuine and noble desire to lift his nation above the lamentable situations of neighbours such as Zimbabwe and Kenya. rather than being, as some have charged, a waste of time, it really is a shame he didn't have enough of it.



I could not agree with you more.

However do not steal, do not fight, do not harm or leave when you have nothing to add are advices or recommendations I would like to give to my kids; Not to someone at the commands of a nation with millions and millions of inhabitants.

We need real nation builders. We do not need cabbage or garbage like the Mwanawasa, the Mugabe, the Museveni, the Kabila, the Kibaki, the Kagame... in governement offices.

If your son, your cousin or brother doesn't steal it is good he will not go to jail. However if he doesn't get good grades in school or work hard he will become homeless anyway.



I agree with you we have low expecations of our leaders but that is because their quality has been so low it is matter of comparing the truly awful with the merely incompetent. In fact we have to start from the lowest benchmark for any leader: do no harm. Do not steal from the people. Do not start civil wars. And please leave the palace while you still have detectable pulse. We will be in fantasy land if we were to compare the Kibakis and Musevenis and sasso Nguessis who plight our continent eith the principled and competent leaders of Asia who lifted their nations from poverty in less than a generation.

What is ludicrous is the common whine amongst sections of the African elites about the `West' as if somehow they are the cause of our miseries when clearly they are not. The West despises those who deserve to be despised like Mugabe who singlehandedly brought his country down to its knees so that he could cling on to power till death them apart.


In my comment I expressed my main concern about single digit IQ leadership in Africa where we praise leaders who are doing nothing but just bearing the title of presidents, ministers or parliamentarians.
What whitey likes or doesn’t like is a non issue to me as someone attributed it to what I said. However it would be naïve not to see that in this world the West praises regimes that work more for the interests of westerners than their peoples.
I find an African who is saying that we have leaders that are developing the continent especially inter tropical Africa as a total blind. The gulf that separates Africa between the tropics from the rest of the world gets deeper and deeper everyday.
Claiming some arrests or judicial cases linked to corruption does not mean that you are lifting Africans from poverty as we do not even know the size of those new leaders’ accounts in foreign banks. Moving our countries from fourth and third world to second and even first world requires big plans. It will take leaders with special vision, strong commitment and new approach to tackle our problems. Which African countries between the tropics are in the track of doing like Korea, Brazil, Taiwan or Singapore the most recent development successes?
We can not get out of the mess that we have now by small talks and small stories. It sounds to me that some of my fellow Africans are saying that if our performances can be graded by 55 percent it is enough because it is more than half. That is not how Asian peoples who most of them were as poor as us in the 1960s changed things. They targeted performances that can be graded 80 to 90 percent. That is why I am using a computer made by Chinese engineers, software from India and nothing from Africa. Get real and stop crying success over poor and invisible performances.

surg onc

it's good to hear about a good African leader. i wish there were more like him so that (the countries of) Africa and Africans can stand tall among nations. but your article is marred by a non sequitur directed against China, which i have observed to be not exactly uncommon among 'western' publications. why do you do that? what is China's crime against Africa, as compared to the European's: in terms of colonial degradation, human trafficking (remember the slaves brought to the New World?), arbitrary drawing up of boundaries between countries (thereby sowing the seeds of conflict and, dare i say, tribal ethnic cleansing or genocide?), propagation of diseases, economic plunder, environmental damage, etc? if you expect your readers to be influenced by such 'subliminal message', you are mistaken. many of us leaving in 'faraway' Asia (at least from the European's perspective) are educated enough to read news properly and to discern bias when we see it. your print version will have more subscribers in Asia (assuming you are interested in that possibility) when the silent but well educated non- Europeans perceive it to be worth the money they will pay for; otherwise there will be new publications coming up to fill the void. dear editor: what is there to lose if your publication has an even-handed perspective for all the readers in the world?


In response to Mwanga and all the other anti-imperialists:

Iam a Zambian and have been a beneficiary of the good policies that were pursued by our late President in his 7 year rule.

First and foremost, at the end of the decade long rule of Frederick Chiluba, the country was engulfed by the stench of corruption that had penetrated the very high corridors of power. Levy took his predecessor on and the anti-graft crusade was born. The results have brought many benefits to the general citizenry. Public officials now discharge their duties with accountability. Billions of Kwacha have been recovered in form of cash and properties; several accounts belonging to plunderers have been frozen in Zambia & abroad. The country's perception has improved and it is a favoured destination of Foreign Direct Investment which no African country can do without at the moment. We are on the road to recovery. It is not all talk my friends. The man walked his talk. New economic processing zones are coming up in Lusaka and the Copperbelt region to create a strong economic & industrial base. He also spearheaded radical policies in Agriculture which led the country to recover its lost status as a surplus producer/net exporter of food crop.

On the political and diplomatic front, he was no puppet of the West. In his first year in office, he stood up to the EU Delegation who openly favoured the opposition candidate and threatened to pull out. Anglo American Corporation pulled out of the mines and today they must be cursing themselves for their ill-timed decision. The mines are oozing a fresh breath of air. In fact, two new mines have been opened in the intervening period.

When some EU members boycotted the EU-Africa Summit in Portugal on account of Bob Mugabe's presence, Levy condemned them stating that wisdom required a process of dialogue to be pursued with the Zimbabwean leader. However, when dialogue was not achieving the intended results, he was the first to denounce the actions of the Zim Govt.

He deserves praise for performing better than his peers.


From West Africa, I will like to extend my hand of condolence to the Zambian people for the loss of their hard-working and courageous leader. I would also like to note that it is sad that Levy Mwanawasa is being singled out for praise by the Western media for the wrong reasons. Levy's achievements in office is only mentioned in passing in most western publications and would never have been mentioned at all in the Economist if the man had not been critical of Mugabe- the focus of the western media obsession. Indeed, before Levy plucked the courage to criticize autocratic Mugabe, the media rarely mentioned him. Along with other democratically elected African leaders, Levy was lumped together with corrupt African tyrants and reported in the same style as in all those too familiar stereotypical stories about the "Dark Continent". Retired President and elder African statesman, Joaquim Chissano did a lot of good in Mozambique while in power, but unless he drops his mature nuanced stance on the situation in Zimbabwe, it is unlikely that his achievements will receive any glowing tributes in any Western paper (possibly, with the exception of the Financial Times of London). The current elected Tanzanian President is also good leader, but he too will never receive positive reviews in the Western media until he learns to talk like Gordon Brown and George Bush about the situation in Zimbabwe. As far as Western interests are concerned in Zimbabwe, there is no room for pragmatism and compromise. The sledge-hammer must fall on Mugabe and Zanu-PF regardless of the consequences on the stability of the Southern African region.


nobody lost any good prez or puppet. i just hope one day outside interference will be expelled from the continent, and with this too shall go those nut cases who think it is possible for a people to cause their own misery. people back home are suffering enough than to have some greedy, narrow minded fat people on their backs.


ZANU PF Strategist II wrote:

Zambia did not lose a good president , instead the West lost a good puppet.

None the less, The Zambian people are not suffering from inflation of 11,000,000% as Zimbabweans are, nor do they suffer widespread degradation and torture at the hands of their government as Zimbabweans do. If Mwanawasa was a 'good puppet of the West' then perhaps that is what African countries need to ensure their country is governed properly-your ZANU-PF liberation movement is certainly not doing a very good job!


ZANU PF Strategist II wrote:

???Zimbabwe has not lost a good president. She doesn't even have the privilege of getting a good puppet....



As an african I find that `blame it all on whitey' attitude depressing. Just because the West likes a leader does not make him a bad leader. And just because a lootocrat like Mugabe makes anti-western noises does not make him a hero. Mwanawasa was a good, decent man who got elected by his people and did not steal from them. That is a start. We africans sometimes deserve what we get though: Just look at Kenyans. What on earth were they thinking when they elected an 90 year old vegetable like Kibaki? How can a 90 year old klep bring change and dynamism?


I’m glad to see, for once, exposed a talented Africa’s leader; it will show the world that – according to Edmund Burke motto – “if evil is allowed to prosper, it is because good men do nothing”.
Zambia’s president can-do attitude will not be forgotten by Zambian, by Africa, by the world.


It is truly sad that a great statesmen like Mwanawasa dies, especially when the Mugabes can on living causing misery for their people. I hope that Zambia is able to have more Mwanawasas in the future.


Mwanga: You are most probably a Kanyan or some country in East Africa. You do nt know the conditions that were prevailing in Zambia when Mwanawasa assumed leadership of the country. The situation was dire but he has managed to reverse that in 7 years. Unlike your country Kenya, Mwanawasa fought corruption and the Zambian govt won a civil case against Chiluba and his accomplices in a London court. The matter was heard in London because two London-based law firms and the London branch of the then state-owned Zanaco Bank were used to launder the money.What is your govt doing about the Anglo Leasing scandal? John Githongo has the evidence.


My country Zambia has lost a decent leader. It is correct that he speech became slurred after a road crash in 1992. His official vehicle collided with a Landcruiser which was coming from the opposite direction and being driven by a security official from State House the official residence of the Zambian President (at the time Frederick Chiluba). The accident was suspicious because the security oficial was actually a VIP security expert who must have recognised the then Vice-President Mwanawasa's oficial vehicle.

Miraculously Mwanawasa survived the accident but he was badly injured and remained in hospital for 12 months. Before the accident Mwanawasa was a highly articulate lawyer who spoke with clarity. His main legacy to Zambia is the anti-graft crusade which was highly unpopular initially because too many Zambians want wealth without work. His predessecor Chiluba and his accomplices are on their defence in criminal proceedings in Zambia. His financial adviser Faustin Kabwe was found guilty only last week and was sentenced to two years in jail.


The problem with Africa is that the poor get too many kids unlike the poor in rich countries who get only 1 or 2. You can't go having 11 kids (a football team) and then whine to the government about lousy schools and hospitals, and high unemployment. Remember that nowadays labour-saving equipment is dirt cheap thanks to China and India. So having more than 2 kids is a disaster. I'd like to commend the middle class and the rich in Africa for having few children. It means they can take their kids to private schools and hospitals, give them business start-up capital if they're unable to find work or prefer self-employment, and give them allowances while they undertake necessary but unpaid or poorly paid internships and apprenticeships.Nairobi, Kenya


The vicious cycle of ethnic reprisals, genocides, war and dictatorships have plague Africa. Despite this, Zambia shows much promise. Lets hope that Zambia can have more people centred and forward thinking leaders like Mr Levy. However, Zambia has got to rely less on its mineral resources and prevent China from exploiting its resources. Zambia should move towards a knowledge base economy and rely less on its resources. Zambia should concentrate on providing education in rural areas and promoting universities to produce more intellectuals. Zambia should also give loan assistance to farmers and promote research for better farm yields. Relying on mineral resources only promotes the Dutch disease and makes Zambia get exploited. Zambia has to move in to protect its environment, its forests, its resources by enacting strict environmental laws and encouraging care for the protecting its forests. Lets hope that Zambia can be a beacon of hope and a great example to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Angola and Congo.


As long as an African leader does everything that is in the interests of Europeans and North Americans he is a good leader. The Economist and other Western media will praise him. It doesn't matter whether more than half of his people are barefoot or live with less than a dollar a day.
The Economist and other Western media have been praising Museveni, Kagame... as new visionaries African leaders. The real reason is that they are the puppets of UK and North America axis. They are among the protectors of the supremacy of English language and culture which together with French have relegated African languages to the status of animal sounds used for communication.
Mwanawasa is an average African leader who gets in power, does not cause war, does not destroy the country but also does not add anything. There is nothing to praise in that kind of leadership even if it is better than warmonger leadership.
We can not praise African leaders because they have not caused wars or tribal conflicts. Not causing conflicts is not a favor that a leader gives to Africans. It is part of his job.
They can't keep presiding with same results of poorest countries, less educated people, highest rate of AIDS infection, lowest per capita GDP and tell us that because there was no war and less corruption we should consider them as heroes or role model visionary leaders. A visionary African leader after presiding for one decade should show great achievements that will give to the country a Hyundai like, a Nokia like, a Lenovo like, a Tata like...
The apathetic governance of the Mwanawasa and the alike, the empty praises given to them by the West will not lift Africans from the current uncomfortable situation of being the poorest people in the world. In Africa we have leaders to represent us at the United Nations we do not have nation builders. The West has not been praising Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Indian leaders because they have been building strong competitive nations. The West praise an African leader who can't even create conditions that allow his people to be able to manufacture a bicycle.


I wonder when the Economist will do a serious piece on how these looted funds end up in western financial institutions who are supposedly bound by anti-money laundering laws?

Case in point, it has just been revealed that a Cameroonian gov't official a few years back was able to open an account in his name at Banque Paribas in Paris with a court judgment of 70 million dollars that was awarded to the now defunct Cameroon Airlines for breach of contract by South African airlines. Thus the cameroonian people were robbed of funds which would have gone to solve some of the country's problems.

As the previous poster noted, talk is very cheap indeed.


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