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President mark Sall’s move worthy of emulation

May 11, 2012, 12:23 PM

The recent move by the new democratically-elected president of Senegal to publicly declare his personal assets is a gesture worthy of emulation.

We see the move as very essential in the promotion of transparency and accountability in the neighbouring country.

The gesture should be emulated by all other African leaders as part of efforts to foster genuine democracy in the continent.

With such initiatives, citizens would be able to know if their leaders are becoming richer than their countries, as is happening in some African countries.

It is very sad that some African leaders came to power as poor as any other ordinary citizen, but are today millionaires while the majority of their population live on less than one US dollar a day.

Such leaders just pay lip service to accountability and transparency, but their actions are far from manifesting accountability.

The gesture is another way of showcasing the new Senegalese leader’s leadership qualities and democratic credentials, worthy of admiration.

It is our belief that leadership and accountability need to go hand-in-hand, in order to give people confidence in any administration.

Accountability and transparency are essential elements of good governance, and they are essential in any open society.