Leadership ethics and armed conflicts: a study of Angola, Sudan, and the former Zaire

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Periodical article

Title:	Leadership ethics and armed conflicts: a study of Angola, Sudan, and the former Zaire
Author:	Asante-Darko, Kwaku
Year:	1997
Periodical:	Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development
Volume:	10
Issue:	2
Pages:	259-277
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Sudan Angola Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:	legitimacy civil wars
Abstract:	Analysis of the armed conflict in Angola, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) indicates that the current practice of legitimizing self-appointed military leadership in Africa through elections holds no prospect for peace or democracy. There is a tendency for self-appointed governments to hold on to power by the means whereby they attain it. This inclination to resort to intimidation and violence to suppress legitimate dissent engenders armed opposition. The cycle of violence this occasions is therefore attributable to disregard for, or the absence of, well-defined and carefully structured ethics of peaceful political succession. Rationalizations to justify self-appointed leadership in postcolonial Africa are defective, both conceptually and empirically. Ref.