How can Africa progress when men like Gilbert Bawara are allowed into positions of leadership?

Leadership has been the bane of Africa’s development, this scarcity of effective leadership has affected the growth of the continent in general and its people in particular.

From Southern Africa to East Africa, West Africa and the Arab North, the accumulated consequences of years of poor leadership abounds with the usual indices of corruption, underdevelopment and economic meltdown. In the midst of all these inequalities, African leaders have perfected a way of living in opulence while the citizens are in a state of squalor.

The country of Togo has witnessed political unrest in recent times as anti-government protests sprang up due to President Faure Gnassingbé’s plan to perpetuate himself in office after a 12-year sojourn.

The cries of the people are the same, his administration has not brought the needed change and development to the country, the government has deployed every possible means to silence the opposition but the failings of his government is evident and glaring.

It was reported recently that Togo’s Minister of Labour Gilbert Bawara whose ministry failed to pay workers in the country a meaningful living wage sent his dog to Italy for medical attention. The man at the eye of the storm is one of those serving the president whose tenure is now synonymous with protests.

According to reports, teachers in the country earn a paltry sum of $70. Just like the teachers, other government workers in the country are poorly paid. It is twice as expensive to fly animals on an international flight, several times as expensive when the animal in question is visibly ill (border fees and treatment in flight). Bawara must have spent at least $10,000 dollars to treat the canine, about the salaries of 1000 teachers for a month.

If Bawara has enough money to fly a pet to Italy for treatment, one can only imagine just how much money he is embezzling for his own personal use.

Will our politicians and public servants across Africa ever stop embarrassing us?