Abstract:
Governance is concerned with the institutional capacity of public organisations
to provide the public and other goods demanded by a country’s citizens or their
representatives in an effective, transparent, impartial, and accountable manner,
subject to resource constraints. It is claimed that, when the historical background
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is considered, governance should
be concerned with the government’s efforts to strengthen the organs of the state
in order to tackle the socio-economic crisis that has paralysed most of public
institutions and then impeding the proper functioning of the state’s apparatus.
Given the state’s failure in the DRC, creating a strong nation should be a priority.
This will require a leadership style which is transformational in nature and leaders
who will provide stewardship needed to pave a way for the country to be placed on
the track of development.
This article intends to propose a framework that can be used in regard to
leadership development in the DRC. In so doing, the article firstly examines leadership and governance issues in Africa. It secondly analyses the after effect of
colonisation on the continent. It thirdly demonstrates the necessity for an effective
leadership in DRC before it proposes a framework for leadership development in
the country. The proposed framework is tri-dimensional and it is founded on three
main aspects, namely spirituality, emotional intelligence and morality. It is believed
that a perspective on leadership development based on the above dimensions can
assist in producing leaders the DRC needs to meet the imperatives of governance
and public administration. Currently the DRC requires leaders who can unleash the
potential available in the country and maximise the country’s strategic position and
role in continental geopolitical affairs. Nevertheless, it is argued that the success of
the model that is proposed in this article will mainly depend on the kind of social
order that prevails in the country and on the type of the political arrangements that
are secured by the country’s leaders.
