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Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Retrospect pp 229–246Cite as

Strengthening Democratic Political Leadership and Governance for Africa’s Development Beyond 2015: The Case of Uganda

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Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 58))

Abstract

Africa is rich in human capital and natural resources with potential to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) even without foreign aid. Taking Uganda as a case study, this paper argues that Africa’s failure to effectively meet the MDGs is due to the deficit of political leadership and ineffective governance. Strengthening democratic political leadership and governance is the best and fastest strategy for envisioning a post 2015 humane and sustainable development agenda. While national and international forces such as the global market, climate change and the economic downturn are affecting Africa’s progress, democratic leadership and governance would have averted the impasses long before the inception of the MDGs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this paper, Africa refers to the 49 countries in the Sub-Saharan region.

  2. 2.

    “The MDG Report 2013: Assessing Progress in Africa toward the Millennium Development Goals” gives detailed analysis of national, regional and continental progress on the MDGs. However, the report requires a critical analysis. I suggest that the progress noted must be verified on ground basing on the living conditions of the vulnerable people especially in the rural areas. Retrieved from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/mdg-reports/africa-collection/.

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Acknowledgement

I am grateful to St. Pauls College for awarding me the Joseph E. Guertin Memorial research scholarship that enabled me to present this paper at the Millennium Development Goals in retrospect: Africa’s Development Beyond 2015 Conference, International University of Alberta.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Evelyn Namakula Mayanja

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  1. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja
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Correspondence to Evelyn Namakula Mayanja .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Nathan Andrews

  2. Dept of Human and Social Development, Human Sciences Research Council, Durban, South Africa

    Nene Ernest Khalema

  3. Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

    N'Dri T. Assié-Lumumba

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Mayanja, E.N. (2015). Strengthening Democratic Political Leadership and Governance for Africa’s Development Beyond 2015: The Case of Uganda. In: Andrews, N., Khalema, N., Assié-Lumumba, N. (eds) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Retrospect. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 58. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16166-2_15

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