Many people know about Kwame Nkrumah, Rastafari, Mobutu and Julius Nyerere; but not that many people know about the African leader who's had the most spectacular and most enduring success.
His name is Seretse Khama. He was Botswana's independence leader. When he came to the office, Botswana was one of the poorest places in Africa. His visionary policies transformed it into a peaceful country that now enjoys living standards comparable to those of Poland or Argentina. Botswana avoided genocides, famines, despotism and kleptocracy that plagued other African countries; and by every standard the Botswanans enjoy the best way of life of all black African people.
Other countries had material resources, but most mismanaged them. Other countries had strong leaders, but most of them turned brutal, despotic or corrupt. Here was somebody who had an unmitigated success where others have failed.
Why do we not hear much about this person and his country? Probably because it's not as attention-getting as are stories about famine and genocide. However as Africa struggles to find the right path, the right path has already been found by one African leader. The other African countries stand to gain much by looking at Khama's policies and implementing them in their own countries. If one African leader can do it, then so can the rest of them.
Africa has for a long time been identified as an area of mass failure. With Khama, we see an African leader who achieved a spectacular success. The media should run more stories about the success of Botswana, and more leaders in Africa ane elsewhere should be looking toward him for guidance in their own countries. If Botswana can do it, the so can Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria or Tanzania.
Khama is nowhere close to being a household name, even in Africa; and that is a result of media failing to pay attention. Maybe he was not as colorful as some others; maybe he was not as attention-getting as some others; but he succeeded where others have failed. Most people who even realize that there is such a place as Botswana think that it is yet another impoverished African country. The success of Botswana needs to come more to the attention of media and politicians, as it is instructive for how the rest of Africa can improve.
And it can also counter the image we see in the Western media of Africa as a uniformly miserable place.