You will often hear the saying: “Leaders are chosen by God.”
This assertion has been echoed time and again by political elites in Africa, traditional leaders, and even religious leaders throughout the Continent.
This narrative is a manipulative tactic intentionally crafted to intimidate citizens into silence, and discourage them from seeking accountability or even envisioning political transformation. According to this reasoning, opposing the President equates to opposing God. This notion is not only incorrect but also dangerous. It amounts to manipulation. It is utterly unacceptable.
In any democratic system, it is the people that elect leaders, including the President.
Authority is not divinely ordained but constitutionally assigned. Citizens hold the power to appoint and, consequently, have the right to revoke that authority. Those who assert that presidents are beyond reproach due to divine endorsement aim to substitute the people’s will with the fear. The fear of God.
Most autocrats in Africa ascend to power not through free will but through coercion, manipulation, and violence. Elections are routinely rigged, opponents are intimidated, state institutions are seized, and dissent is suppressed. They distort religious texts to silence the populace, convincing them that challenging corruption or demanding accountability is a sin against God.
The reality is straightforward: Leaders are not chosen by God. (By the way, God doesn’t exist)
Leaders must be accountable to the people. If they govern unjustly, they must be confronted. If they waste national resources, they must be revealed. If they fail to deliver, they must be ousted.
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