The PANAFRICAN Review Magazine
POLITICS
The crisis of confidence prevents Africans from building systems of governance that are responsive to the people ‘ s needs – regardless of what they may be labelled – thus accountable .
Accountable leadership is the foundation upon which authentic African institutions that express the value systems and dignity befitting Africans can be erected in due course .
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At the Pan-African Review , we believe that accountable leadership is a democracy , and its opposite is dictatorship anywhere in the world .
IT ’ S SWIM OR SINK – RPF ’ S OBSESSION WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
By Lonzen Rugira
The RPF executive committee meetings usually take place in the presence of members only . However , every once in a while they are opened up to guests as observers and witnesses to a matter of particular importance . On Friday 26 June 2020 , RPF ’ s obsession with accountability went on display . It was so intense that one could not help but notice that the RPF is obsessed with accountability as if its life depends on it . It does depend on it , and here ’ s why .
My friend Thierry Gatete , in his signature cadence , argued that the RPF takes accountability seriously given the fact that Rwanda is a land-locked country without natural resources . Gatete ’ s eloquence was matched by senior writer Joseph Rwagatare ’ s trademark prose that similarly buttressed the economic argument . Both argued on the moment being a turning point , as the titles of their pieces indicate : “ RPF – the age of accountability ” and “ Time to renew commitment to the nation ” respectively .
I , however , am of the persuasion that RPF ’ s obsession with accountability is an existential question . Sure , the country that the party oversees lacks material resources , but to be poor is not a death sentence . Two death sentences await the RPF should it veer off its accountability path . Neither of these is economic .
The first death sentence is to the party itself . Left on their own , the corrupt elements within the party will continue to grow and ultimately form a critical mass that