By Mohamed Konneh
Rev. Fr. Peter Konteh is the Executive Director of Caritas Freetown, and a dedicated Catholic Priest amidst the turmoil of Sierra Leone’s brutal 10-year civil war, has spent over 30 years balancing pastoral duties and social work with remarkable dedication. Growing up in a devout Catholic family.
He is among vocal catholic Priests that is always lending his voice on national issues of concern. Father Konteh continue to throw light on leadership in Africa and has once again come out strongly on Africa’s leadership struggle.
‘’Today, Tanzania goes to the polls. Yet across the news we hear reports of opposition voices being jailed or disqualified. It is a moment that forces us to pause and ask: what truly is our hope for leadership in Africa, the Caritas Executive Director asked?
He said growing up, he believed deeply that female leadership could transform the continent — because women nurture, protect, and care like mothers do for their children.
‘’I thought perhaps this would heal our political culture. But history continues to teach us that the challenge in Africa is not simply gender — it is human nature, power, and self-interest,’’ he said.
Father Konteh noted that long before colonialism, many African societies practiced leadership rooted in community, accountability, elders’ councils, and moral duty. Leadership was service. Power belonged to the people.
Then came colonial rule, which replaced shared leadership with centralized authority, fear, and control — systems that many post-independence leaders inherited and continued.
‘’Instead of servant leadership, too often we saw leaders clinging to power, manipulating systems, and silencing dissent, this is disgusting, Father Konteh said.
Today, we still witness this painful pattern:
Leaders who refuse to step aside, voices silenced, Laws bent for political survival, citizens treated as obstacles instead of stakeholders, and this is frustrating the Catholic Priest noted.
He said it is disappointing and heartbreaking, because Africa deserves better.
‘’We cannot continue recycling leaders who are disconnected from reality, driven by ego, surrounded by those who benefit from their power rather than challenge it,’’ he said.
Father Konteh noted that Africa’s future will not be saved by gender alone, nor by age, nor by party color.
‘’It will be saved only by leaders who fear God, respect humanity, love justice, listen to the people, and understand that power is a temporary stewardship — not a throne to occupy forever,’’ he said.
The vocal Catholic Priest used this moment to remind the world and Africa in particular that:
• True leadership is service, not domination.
• Power must return to the people.
• The continent rises only when its conscience rises.
Let us pray for leadership that restores dignity, protects truth, and places the nation above personal ambition, he concluded.
