African Leadership as Jitegemea: A Model for Sustainability

Abstract

Jitegemea, in Swahili, is the movement toward being self-reliant. This chapter examines African leaders who overcome dependency upon Western constructs by prioritizing local culture, customs, solutions, and leadership practices. Leaders in Africa confront many challenges including political instability, weakened infrastructures, sparse resources and services, and limited technological implementations, as well as inherited patterns of dependency upon Western counterparts for organizational models, leadership practice, and financial support. A model for sustainability, as developed by Arguello, is presented that recommends effective African leaders implement local learning, develop greater capacities in local people, mobilize local solutions and resources, and dissolve unhealthy mindsets by building local confidence as a means for cultivating jitegemea within their followers and within themselves. Jitegemea, consequently, becomes a mode of personal and collective agency that leads to increased freedom for the African people. Ultimately, this chapter highlights the importance for African leaders to develop local confidence, learning, resources, and followers with the goal of decreasing their dependence upon foreign solutions and aid, and increasing their capability for long-term local sustainability.