Democracy and philanthropism in governance and five of Africa's most rare men in politics

Democracy is a system of governance in which the people choose their leaders by voting for them in elections. ... Philanthropy is free-giving of help or money to those in need. Governance is control or wholistic influence of a situation or country, according to The Oxford English Dictionary.

I intend to interrogate the activities and life-styles of five of the world's most extra-ordinary men from Africa in this essay. Former South African president, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela! Lt. General Dr. Ian Khama Seretse Khama, the immediate past-president of Botswana! Colonel Tshinga Dube, a decorated former military commander in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and retired head of The Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI), immediate-past parliamenrarian for Makokoba and former Minister for War Veterans! Raj Modi, renowned Bulawayo Business man. Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South and Deputy Minister for Industry and International Trade. And John Magulufi, sitting president of The Republic of Tanzania.

Nelson Mandela, an extra-ordinary man indeed in world politics for his peace-making mantra with excellent public and international relations! A Nobel Laurette and a cunningly touching friend of all. Mandela made extra-ordinary deliverables to the enemy that kept him behind bars for 27 years! And charmed all blacks with his unlimited charisma to feel good in excruciating poverty.

Mandela's celebrated unifier effect emanates from his non-vengeance upon the ever hostile Afrikaaner community and the pro white-rule Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi of The inkatha Freedom Party that opposed his release and majority rule. Charismatically toned-down the well-seasoned high tide of anger in the black man emanating from a century of violent oppression that kept the gallows dangling at full-mast! And both the apartheid police and prison service busier and recruiting continuiusly! And the list of missing persons daily on the rise.

Widows and orphans continuously in the making. And poverty on Africans daily on the increase with continued dispossession and humiliation. And colonially manufactured devastating tribal conflict through the establishment of The Bantustan Administration with fake black heads of state which entailed the set-up of homeland governance designed to neutralise African quest for power and equal rights. And The Mandela child-rights campaign as manifested in his Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation. Obtaining freedoms of multiple children with a continuously oppressed parentage! To come of age and join the band-wagon of graduate unemployment and of continuously devastating service delivery protests! And the oppressed African woman earning Amandla! Imbokodo! And a cheap Doek On Fleek lifestyle only in the month of August of each year in same excruciating poverty and plumetting service delivery and rape on the increase with the window-dresser elevation of the chosen-few women who were mainly spouses of the powerful elite strategically so deployed to the non-stop looting grounds at the expense of the voting majority poor.

The majority poor women who championed the multi-billion Rand annual South African street economy, who work daily from dawn to dusk, that funded the revolution and produced The Democratic Alliance's hostile Johanesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, Ntate Maponyane in Soweto, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Adelaide Tambo, Albertina Sisulu, Eparneitte Mbeki and Mama Esther Mahlangu and yet were still kept on the run in the Mandela and beyond independent South Africa. When you hate and hurt children you destroy the future! And when you hate and hurt women you destroy a nation! Mandela had nothing to offer for the ever vibrant street economy! Neither did he acknowledge African religion! Mandela got to power eith hired faith! Mandela set a bad precedent!

Mandela took a Roman Oath of Office with The Bible in hand to rule South Africans! Not the west! He took native Soweto, Alexander and Khayelitsha to the streets of Rome! Israel and London there-by overtaking the real angelic owners of The African National Congress and South Africa that lay in graves behind the kraals and other graveyards country-wide! Mandela paid no attention to the African religion that both materially and spiritually shaped and funded the revolution at those most grave moments. While South African sitting president, Cyril Ramaphosa, went into the elections with a public Shembe anointing and won the hotly contested Nesrac party election with a very narrow margin with his famous CR2017 multi-million Rand campaign! At inauguration, after the election, he divided his faith!

Dumped his true religion and crossed the mighty oceans to Jerusalem! Rome and London to impress a borrowed God at the expense of Africa's own with the same Mandela, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma irrelevant biblical oath! Desperate election fevered temporary customised or seasonal spirituality in the same manner as the voter who only matters at election time every five years. He now serves a hotter-potato term than any other with his cling to power threatened at every moment of the few months of electoral victory in the same manner that happened to native South Africa at the emergence of apartheid. Government has continued to work with a hired God who has blessed it with a bad legacy of still-born presidential terms premised on tenderpreneurship! Where every tender or project has been so devastatingly hurriedly looted at all levels. German Ambassador to South Africa, Martin Schafer, told a diplomatic gathering in South Africa that in his country every child as early as kindergatten knew about Nelson Mandela while South African black poverty-biten children of the same age and much above did not.

Mandela's both charismatic and diplomatic keep your poverty to blacks! And keep and grow your privileges to whites approach accelerated the century-old status-quo, and, furthermore, deprived ordinary black South Africans who took comfort in seeing just his face. Mandela, both politically and administratively, rose to dizzy heights on both local, regional and international scales to this very moment. No known politician or leader has ever risen to The Mandela Fame. Nelson Mandela's marriage to veteran politician Winifreda Nomzamo Madikizela was found to be inconsistent with The Mandela job-card, and was, therefore, sponsored into collapse! Winnie's most known political radicalism, stood at odds with the desired new order.

It was clearly known that Winnie would not have wanted to cook for the same whiteman that kept her in and out of prison's black president! And with Winnie active in the kitchen, Nelson Mandela would have been bound to change. Both the poor black and the privileged white capital went electric with The Mandela mantra and fame. But the poor blacks remained as destined to get poorer! And the privileged white got richer. White capital sponsored Nelson Mandela's marrital breakdown as evidenced at Winnie's grave-side angelic eulogies, where, for the first time, the authorities found it fit to make it public knowledge that she was unscathed in the murder of political child activist, Stompie Seipei.

The scandal had so detrimentally dogged both her marriage and her ever vibrant political career. Even the women who had been sponsored to rise against her in The ANC Women's League where she had been president such as Maite Nkoane-Mashabane who had hit the last most vicious nail upon Winnie's career most surprisingly found something angelic to say about her at that grave-side. The ANC Women' League has Winnie's blood in its hands in the same manner that Zimbabwe's former First Lady Grace Mugabe, sitting Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri and The ZANU-PF Women's League top-brass carries that blood of Zimbabwe's first female vice president, Dr. Joyce Mujuru to make way for the now sitting president, Emmerson Mnangagwa! Divide and further oppress! Women sacrifice fellow women for men. One never stops as to windering as to which part of divided faminicity would be that sufficiently rocky to stand the heat!

Nelson Mandela sold-out both in marriage and in political administration and, in this way, so immeasurably appealed to international white capital who, in turn, sponsored his fake popularity in an equally extra-ordinary manner to the present as marked by the internationally funded annual Nelson Mandela Day every 18th of July to mark his birthday and Nelson Mandela month every month of March. Nelson Mandela still puts the world into full paralysis on these annual occasions in celebration of native dispossession! Humiliation! And further setbacks that have since taken ugly dimensions in the form of fits-all unlimited political frustration! Corruption! Violence! Poor service delivery! And grave poverty! Sexual brutality! Xenophobia! Sex for work! Sex for Reconstruction and Development (RDP) housing! Sex for higher marks, food and accomodation at tertiary institutions! Sex for poverty alleviation! Walk down bucket street thatha amabuckets sanitation! Mass-crime-rate and irreversible loss of the spirit of ubuntu! Execerbated by the Jacob Zuma state capture scandal. Mandela's rise from prison to state house marks years of irrepairable waste to the majority South Africans whose emancipation fell into inevitable delay.

While Lt. General Dr. Ian Khama Seretse Khama remains as one of the most out-standing leaders of his time! A leader of his own kind in community leadership or engagement. This remains as the Guiness Book of Records material. Khama acted opposite to the traditional or the naturally enshrined leadership trend. It was at election time that the world sees senior politicians and presidential aspirants desperately seeking to mix and mingle with the public in bribery for the vote. It was at election time that The Heads of State went in the public train-rides and the busy and filthy bus, taxi and train terminus and collapsed health facilities once in five years! It was at election time that they remembered the poor, prisoners and the sick! It was at election time that even those communities in unpassable roads networks who might have never a television got a hand-shake and a broad-smile from those most favoured men and women of valour in four-wheel-drive high range vehicles! At election time they even go into The Temples to worship in search of votes to farther go and oppress the respective citizens in parliament and cabinet respectively!

And an empty promise of poverty alleviation as top-priority in the next government. But this president Khama committed to spending most of his office time with the respective communities! Listening and speaking to them and attending to their day-to-day challenges country-wide. A president who, in this way, almost spoke or exchanged with every citizen of Botswana on a face-to-face basis and solved numerous unseen citizenry challenges directly. Both in good and perilous times, former president Khama never missed that most rare opportunity to either celebrate or drop a tear with the majority poor citizenry! A head of state who successfully governed with, by, for and through the people! An all-citizen accessible head of state both in person and by other means!

A president known to take his own public calls there-by effectively breaking that notorious traditional public service red-tape and facilitating for instant deliverables. The majority king maker poor man's president! This remains as the unsung Guiness Book of Records material. Khama was so extra-ordinarily opposite to the tradition of the untouchable quick-dashing terrorist presidential motorcades! He strongly believed and taught that leadership should not only take to manifestation at election time but account for each and everyday of governance. Leading for the next generation as against leading for the next election! Multitudes of the poor benefited from The Khama consistent Management By Walking Around Technique!

The hungry got food! And the cold got warmth! The elderly got both attention and comfort! And the homeless benefited from The Khama presidential Non-Governmental Housing Scheme that saw citizen participation in the construction of over a thousand houses for the elderly poor and child-headed poor families country-wide and the adoption of such poor families by The Business Community, Churches, other Non-Governmental Organisations and voluntary government departments employees provident funds respectively. Khama in this way, became Botswana's most popular Head of State to the majority under-privileged whom he had deliberately chosen to govern with!

In this way he touched and changed multitudes of lives with his own open hand in both urban and rural settings and declared an open war against alcoholism and drug lordship to the chagrin of druglords and alcohol empires. While Honourable Dorcus Makgato and entourage have taken to fulltime pedestrian attack! Full-fledged bovine like a rabid dog upon former president Khama, the grass-roots have shown no sign of contagion as they still attach high value to their unfettered walk with the former head of state. Makgato, as president of The Botswana Democratic Party Women's League, who has previously openly mobilised women to resent and reject women presidential candidature at the respective party April 2019 Kang elective congress in favour of patriarchy, and, yet the following day she still had the guts to go on the street leading women on a gender-based violence campaign, has been repeatedly called to order by popular demand. The double-pronged tongue Makgato now faces public resentment for her uncalled-for large quantities of foul utterences upon Khama. She has cheaply traded-off ministerial decorum in her unregulated quest for power. And, no-one would forfeit such an illustrious Khama record bigger than any adversary.

While Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, a decorated soldier of the revolution and post-independence and most rare philanthropist-parliamenrarian that Zimbabwe has ever had. Real parliamentary or public office material that only a political and administrative idiot would have voted-out. In that respect, Col. Tshing Dube, went many times bigger than both his party, the ruling ZANU-PF, and government on his more qualitative out-reach free medical services programme that gave multitudes of his constituents and beyond full-access to quality free medical services! In Zimbabwe, proper medical services has remained as the preserve of the elite privileged senior government officials and politicians and the affluent corrupt! Col. Tshinga Dube's two terms as Member of Parliament for Makokoba, Bulawayo's poorest surburb, brought a new lease of life to his constituents and Bulawayo as all the needy went to his free medical expos at eFusini in Makokoba to get both free diagnosis and treatment for all ailments.

The elderly! The majority poor and children all got great relief in the Col. Tshinga Dube way of enriching their lives. The ever restrictive medical attention at the people's door-step. Col. Tshinga Dube was, therefore, one of Africa's and the world both most rare breed and brand that would be most difficult to imitate. A champion of wellness parliamentarian who rejected the usual graveyard rule with sitting parliamentarians ever waiting to take platform to dish-out political fallacy and cheap campaign at funerals.

The common trend that entailed of the majority Southern Africa Development Community liability window-dresser parliamentarians being on the funeral guest-speakers list of prominent persons funerals to dish-out more false promises to the voting public. Col. Tshinga Dube walked and dreamt with the majority underprivileged in all his parliamentary life! Tshinga dreamt of good health for all! He wielded of a new lease of life against all medically avoidable deaths. People came all the way from rural areas to benefit from Col. Tshinga Dube and his wife Maphosa's week of free medical services as entry had been open to all.

What sort of blessing to take-away at the pleasure of cheap politicking! And the reigning free-rider parliamentarians of all kinds in fulltime chase of public service financial trappings! Col. Tshinga Dube found himself as the landing pad of Bulawayo public fury against the ruling ZANU-PF! Otherwise the man, himself, remained as so truly indispensable as compared to Southern Africa Development Community usual ordinary parliamentarians who were prone to preying upon The Parliamentary Constituency Development Fund and donor relief aid.

Without Col. Tshinga Dube in parliament, Zimbabwe, Africa and the world, would never had been the same. Bulawayo has long been so cruelly shunted into nasty orphanhood beyond repair with such involuntarily retired industrious philanthropic dad. Col. Tshinga Dube continuously kept the national thriller professional soccer league Highlanders Football club, in the pitch in full defiance of Zimbabwe's man-made perilous economic times all with his personal fortune.

While real Honourable Raj Modi, a parliamentarian par excellence! Making less noise in what has become a ceremonial parliament and interacting more with his constituents. A great and long-standing parliamentarian in the court of public opinion. Modi has pledged all his parliamentary and cabinet earnings to the welfare of the poor! Has so competently played that extra-ordinary citizen of planet earth in Bulawayo with his selfless hard-earned fortune! It would not be so outrageous to give him a well-deserved title of "Father Bulawayo!" Modi has ever remained as a parliamentarian-beyond the ordinary from his youth with his extra-ordinary pro-poor out-reach programmes that both qualitatively and quantitatively changed lives on planet earth for the majority poor!

In this way Modi and his family has successfully qualitatively carried the largest constituency or multi-constituencies for time immemorial. While in good and in perilous times it could have been found to be most fit to resent politics and leadership of the day! Bulawayo rejecting the ruling ZANU-PF on fulltime basis in favour of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance formation. But could not resist of Raj Modi!

A lifetime of both spiritual and material philanthropism which thrived on his both faith and perennial walk with the majority poor. Raj Modi has remained as a man of massive following in all-Bulawayo for humanitarian reasons who just happens to be in ZANU-PF with his most loyal long-standing constituents, there-by making the greatest of such indispensable and assertive no-exchange asset that any political party or other social formation could have.

Modi'social standing naturally makes him that jewel to jelously keep for all. Raj Modi has remained as a high-value assertive asset whom no normal person or organisation would want to miss that high-value opportunity to associate with. The majority poor would never want to miss that most rare opportunity to give-back to Modi of whatever fair return of his life-long investments upon the poor. That was how the world watched in awe as he rose above every formation, including the ruling ZANU-PF, in Zimbabwe's July 31  2018 national election! Where he performed much outstandingly above all including The Head of State.

Raj Modi has been that most competent family member in every Bulawayo household of the majority king-making poor! Modi has most competently kept the keys to the Tears of Joy Fountain where a new dimension, Fainting of Joy, has, inevitably  taken to manifastation with vegetable street vendors getting that opportunity to take to the highways in style in the Modi multiple philanthropic open-to-all vehicles in his Spar shop raffles equivalent of The OK Grand Challenge. Overwhelmed with Modi fortune, Mr. Dream-Maker! And true driver of community civilisation! Very serious Bulawayo community bonding with the both spiritual and material philanthropist took place over period 2004-2009 when the majority, then multi-fake Mugabe manufactured Trillionaire poor had gone even poorer without food, clothing and everything due to the most outrageous Mugabe government political and administrative delinquency!

When they could not claim their dead for decent burials, Raj Modi chipped-in! It had become much easier to approach Modi than any of the political parties and government social services or Churches for assistance. Raj Modi has successfully curved lucrative high-value Guiness Book of Records material history with Bulawayo families who long granted him The Freedom of The City status ahead of the relevant authorities. In good and in perilous times Modi ever-bravely walked with the people of Bulawayo in a most value-adding way. Raj Modi would have long-made of an excellent , energetic and competent Executive Mayor of the City of Bulawayo for the people for real development free from the detrimentally enshrined broad-day-light pick-pocketing with daily plummeting service delivery.

The philanthropist could have made the equivalent of Johannesburg's Democratic Alliance Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba, who has taken to the mopping-up of the respective city of the ruling African National Congress twenty years of grave maladministrative mess that had reduced the respective city to close to the level of a Ghost Town with lots of street filth, corruption and alarming crime rate. Raj Modi commands of sufficient such energy to lead the revival of The City of Bulawayo and would only be restrained by the prevailing politics of retroggression! Public horror and terror calling for men with both heart and wisdom alongside appropriate energies to correct.

Raj Modi has remained as one of the unsung extra-ordinary man of the world in full command of those most rare qualities whose endeavours and achievements benefited all. It remains as an undisputable fact that Modi wields of the greatest popularity in Bulawayo in all Zimbabwe. Carries a punch equivalent of that of the late-PF-ZAPU veteran out-spoken parliamentarian, Sydney Donald Malunga, founding parliamentarian of Makokoba constituency. It remains as all up to the ruling ZANU-PF to put all of Modi's extra-ordinary presences into full value-adding utilisation.

Up-dates from Tanzania post 2015 election presidential activities as quoted on social media. President John Magulufi slashed the then projected traditional lavish state post-election dinner that would have cost about US $300 million to US $25 million and ordered that the rest be taken to cover social services pressing needs among which was beds for Muhimbili Hospital. The hospital got 300 beds and mattresses and 600 bed-sheets from that philanthropically diverted money.

On the 23rd of November the president announced that there would be no usual official ceremonies for independence day on the 9th of December, and that the money saved was to be philanthropically used for more pressing social welfare issues and that the day should instead be spent clearing-up "our environment!".

On Saturday 21 November 2015, a group of 50 people were about to set-off on a tour of Commonwealth countries (not known for what) but President Magulufi cut that list down to 4 people, saving government of US $600 million in tickets, accomodation and per-diems. Announced end to avoidable luxury travel! Announced embassies takecare! If it was deemed necessary to go, special permission had to be sought from either him or The Chief Secretary.

No-more non-value-adding workshops and seminars in expensive hotels when there were so many respective ministries and public service boardrooms available.

President Magulufi questioned as to why and how engineers had to be given V8 high maintenance vehicles when an ordinary pick-up truck would have been the most suitable for their  functions and would have been of lower both purchase and maintenance costs.

Magulufi phased-out parliamentary sitting allowances and other public service institutions on the reasoning that parliamentarians and such public servants drew monthly salaries from treasury for the same function.

President Magulufi has literally pressed the re-set button and returned Tanzania to default factory settings, because that was the Tanzania the late founding president, Julius Nyerere left.

On the day after he was brought to power, in the morning as state house personnel were showing him around, he decided to take a walk to the Ministry of Finance, where he told them to get their act together. He aked as to why some employees were not in office (ever since then the traffic-jam in the mornings has become worse) and ordered The Tanzanian Revenue Authority (TRA) to scrap all tax exemptions, everyone was to pay tax especially the traditionally exempted big guys.

President Magulufi went to Muhimbili Hospital unannounced and walked through the worst parts thar they keep hiding from important visitors and fired the director, fired the hospital Board and ordered that all strategically broken-down machines (to promote private medical practices owned by the same doctors in public hospitals) be repaired within two weeks, or, otherwise, he fires even the new director. The machines were miraculously high-speed repaired in a record 3 days.

Finaly, the following week when going to officially open parliament, President Magulufi did not go by  plane, but he drove the whole 600 kilometres from Dar esalam to Dodoma.

President Magulufi reduced the size of The Presidential convoy, even reduced the size of the presidential delegation that travels with him to philanthropically cut-down on costs and re-deploy such savings in a more value-adding manner.

President Magulufi shocked the nation when he chose a least expected and unknown politician as Prime Minister. A guy with a known reputation for hard work and no corruption. All the expectant big guys had been left wondering on what could have hit them.

President John magulufi motto: Hapa Kazi Tu. ( Meritocracy).


After President Magulufi visited the Ministry of Finance and Muhimbili Hospital without notice, it is said the port (most corrupt, delaying, thieving officials) were all of a sudden the most efficient place. No loads are missing anymore, things are done quickly and that habbit of forcing for a bribe so that your container was released was no more.

Oh! They say when he was confirmed as winner, people started congratulating him and wanting to bring gifts to his place, he turned them back, saying he will receive all congrats over the phone, nobody should visit him.

All individuals/firms that had bought state companies that were privatised but had not done anything (20 years later) were either to revive the industries immediately or hand them back to the State.

Time to draw lessons from these five of the world's best.
Reginald Thabani Gola. 00263 775184749. E-mail:reginaldnyathi170893@gmail.com