KemetLeads

Their words

Quotes on leadership

166 quotes from the leaders of Africa and its diaspora.

“If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself.”
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe
“Africa should have one identity, one nationality, one people, one currency, one army.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya
“A nation cannot advance while half its people remain in the shadows.”
Habib Bourguiba Tunisia
“The choice of language is central to a people's definition of themselves.”
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Kenya
“It is the Portuguese themselves who, by their oppression, are forging us into one nation.”
Eduardo Mondlane Mozambique
“…that which unites us is far, far more powerful and enduring than that which divides us.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited.”
Eliud Kipchoge Kenya
“I remember my sister was also born at home because there is no hospital in our village. It was a really, really sad situation for everyone. I wanted to build one to give people hope.”
Sadio Mané Senegal
“"The free education programme is the best legacy any government can bequeath to its people."”
Obafemi Awolowo Nigeria
“The most important is to solve the problems of the people.”
Agostinho Neto Angola
“A people united, striving to achieve a common good for all members of society, will always emerge victorious.”
Sam Nujoma Namibia
“The hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free.”
Joshua Nkomo Zimbabwe
“"Women are the people who are going to relieve us from all this oppression and depression."”
Albertina Sisulu South Africa
“"We have chosen the socialist path because it is the only road that can lead our country out of underdevelopment."”
Modibo Keïta Mali
“A nation without a past is a lost nation, and a people without a past is a people without a soul.”
Seretse Khama Botswana
“Never will we say to the people: elect this Tutsi because he is Tutsi, or elect this Hutu because he is Hutu!”
Prince Louis Rwagasore Burundi
“I belong to a generation of writers who break down barriers and refuse the compartmentalisation of the imagination.”
Alain Mabanckou Republic of the Congo
“My heart is filled with pride as I contemplate my nation reconciled, its memory rebuilt and its history freed of its resentments.”
Hassan Gouled Aptidon Djibouti
“I have assumed supreme power in the Kingdom of Swaziland and … all Legislative, Executive and Judicial power is vested in myself.”
King Sobhuza II Eswatini
“Our predecessors taught us one thing: the slave who is not capable of assuming his own revolt does not deserve to be pitied.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“We must work together as a united people with one heart and one mind.”
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Namibia
“Cinema is the people's night school.”
Ousmane Sembène Senegal
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today.”
Malcolm X United States
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
Frederick Douglass United States
“Truth is powerful and it prevails.”
Sojourner Truth United States
“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.”
John Lewis United States
“The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take over. We been saying freedom for six years — what we are going to start saying now is Black Power.”
Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) United States
“There is an urgent need for dedicated and courageous leadership… This is no time for faint-hearted men…”
Medgar Evers United States
“Give people light and they will find a way.”
Ella Baker United States
“…this line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.”
George Washington Carver United States
“African Unity is, above all, a political kingdom which can only be gained by political means.”
Kwame Nkrumah Ghana
“I make no claim to lay out any doctrines here. I am neither a messiah nor a prophet. I possess no truths.”
Thomas Sankara Burkina Faso
“It is never shameful to be poor and to try to borrow to build my country… The shame is to suck the blood of peoples and suck away their rights.”
Gamal Abdel Nasser Egypt
“Parliament is a misrepresentation of the people, and parliamentary systems are a false solution to the problem of democracy.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya
“Now my heart turns to and fro, in thinking what will the people say, they who shall see my monument in after years, and shall speak of what I have done.”
Hatshepsut Egypt
“He left me to deputize for him and embarked on the Atlantic Ocean with his men. That was the last we saw of him and all those who were with him, and so I became king in my own right.”
Mansa Musa Mali
“This oath, thus taken before my father, I have so strictly kept even to this day, that no man ought to doubt but that I shall be of the same mind for the rest of my life.”
Hannibal Barca Tunisia
“The foundation of everything is unity. … we chose to think beyond the horizon of tragedy, and become a people with a future.”
Paul Kagame Rwanda
“The constitution contained in the Bill before us is the product of negotiation and compromise. Yet the central tenets of a democratic, just and equitable society remain uncompromised, because freedom is non-negotiable.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“Even when we don't have enough jobs to give, we must still train people. Skills are assets — whether they are used here or abroad.”
Aliko Dangote Nigeria
“The fuel subsidy is gone.”
Bola Tinubu Nigeria
“Today, we all wear the jersey of Liberia, and the victory belongs to the people, to peace, and to democracy.”
George Weah Liberia
“The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular, is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.”
Yoweri Museveni Uganda
“Imperator, hand over thy fishing-rod to the fishermen of Pharos and Canopus; thy sport is the hunting of cities, realms, and continents.”
Cleopatra VII Egypt
“They are seldom unjust, and have a greater abhorrence of injustice than any other people… There is complete security in their country. Neither traveller nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence.”
Ibn Battuta Morocco
“We African heads of state must stop behaving like puppets who dance every time the imperialists pull the strings.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“The Zairean experience is based on a political philosophy that we call authenticity. This is an awareness on the part of the people of Zaire that they should return to their beginnings and search for the values of their ancestors.”
Mobutu Sese Seko DR Congo
“Power, not reason, is the new currency of this Court's decisionmaking.”
Thurgood Marshall United States
“Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.”
Barack Obama United States
“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community.”
John Lewis United States
“Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving.”
Jesse Jackson United States
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
Kamala Harris United States
“Africa is the cornerstone to the realisation of people's unity.”
Bob Marley Jamaica
“I've just proven to the world that you can do it clean, with hard work and determination.”
Usain Bolt Jamaica
“The man of genius does not steal; he conquers.”
Alexandre Dumas France
“People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”
James Baldwin United States
“If you do your best, nobody can ask you to do it over again.”
Katherine Johnson United States
“The slave who is not able to take charge of his own revolt deserves no pity for his lot.”
Thomas Sankara Burkina Faso
“The party is a contemporary form of dictatorship. It is the modern instrument of dictatorial government.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya
“I have done this with a loving heart for my father Amun… It was he who led me, I did not plan a work without his doing.”
Hatshepsut Egypt
“We belong to a house which hands on the kingship by inheritance.”
Mansa Musa Mali
“Our people will never — and I mean never — be left for dead again.”
Paul Kagame Rwanda
“We have a Constitution we can be proud of, now let's make it work.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“Almighty God did not create a weak brain for a woman and a highly capable brain for a man.”
Samia Suluhu Hassan Tanzania
“We are too great a nation and too grounded as a people to rob ourselves of our finest destiny.”
Bola Tinubu Nigeria
“No one should think that what is happening today is a mere change of guard: it is a fundamental change in the politics of our country.”
Yoweri Museveni Uganda
“Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you aren't disciplined, you are a slave to your moods.”
Eliud Kipchoge Kenya
“Seeing both leaders side by side for the national anthems was very special. I felt then that the Ivory Coast was born again.”
Didier Drogba Côte d'Ivoire
“All lives are sacred and must be protected. … I am calling on world leaders to come together and prevent the slaughter of innocent souls. Humanity must prevail.”
Mohamed Salah Egypt
“You have to face reality bravely as I have done. There can never be any solution to a problem by evading it or turning a deaf ear to it.”
Anwar Sadat Egypt
“My generation cannot understand how Africa, with so much wealth beneath our soil, with a generous nature, water and sunshine in abundance, is today the poorest continent.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“A return to authenticity is not narrow nationalism, a blind return to the past. On the contrary, it is a useful instrument for peace among nations, a condition for existence among peoples.”
Mobutu Sese Seko DR Congo
“The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed.”
Frederick Douglass United States
“But I was free, and they should be free. I would make a home in the North and bring them there, God helping me.”
Harriet Tubman United States
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans.”
Barack Obama United States
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs…?”
Muhammad Ali United States
“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.”
John Lewis United States
“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow — red, yellow, brown, black and white — and we're all precious in God's sight.”
Jesse Jackson United States
“Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourselves in a way that others may not, simply because they've never seen it before.”
Kamala Harris United States
“…when we say “All Power to the People,” we mean to convey a sense of deep respect and love for the people, and the idea that the people deserve complete truth and honesty.”
Huey P. Newton United States
“Great men have done great things here and will again and we can make America what America must become.”
James Baldwin United States
“My work is that of conservation, the saving of things that the average person throws away.”
George Washington Carver United States
“With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us.”
Michelle Obama United States
“We encourage aid that helps us do without aid. But in general, the policy of assistance and aid has only disorganized us, enslaved us, and made us shirk our responsibilities.”
Thomas Sankara Burkina Faso
“Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others. The true leader is of a different sort.”
Haile Selassie Ethiopia
“Democracy is never mob-rule. It is and should remain disciplined rule requiring compliance with the law and social rules.”
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe
“I ask you and all the leaders of the world: Would you act differently? Would you keep silent and do nothing if you were in our place?”
Miriam Makeba South Africa
“My mouth is effective in its speech; I do not go back on my word.”
Hatshepsut Egypt
“I came for the Pilgrimage and nothing else. I do not wish to mix anything else with my Pilgrimage.”
Mansa Musa Mali
“Gisco, another thing has escaped your notice which is more amazing still… in all this multitude there is no one who is called Gisco.”
Hannibal Barca Tunisia
“The Rwandan story shows how much power human beings have within them. Whatever power you do have, you might as well use it to tell the truth and do what is right.”
Paul Kagame Rwanda
“Now is the time to lend a hand. Now is the time for each of us to say 'send me'.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“What is the best project for our Cameroon? That is what this is about, not personal interests.”
Samuel Eto'o Cameroon
“The foundation of the New Liberia must be reinforced by the steel of integrity.”
George Weah Liberia
“The sovereign power in the land must be the population, not the government. The government should not be the master, but the servant of the people.”
Yoweri Museveni Uganda
“I think I fulfilled the legacy by winning the marathon for the second time. That's my total happiness, my inspiration for the next generation.”
Eliud Kipchoge Kenya
“You have two choices: to tell the people that they are right to put you on the bench, or to prove them wrong. I needed to prove them wrong.”
Mohamed Salah Egypt
“I've always said it's really important to give back and I try my best to give back what my people have given me.”
Sadio Mané Senegal
“Any peace not built on justice and on the recognition of the rights of the peoples, would be a structure of sand which would crumble under the first blow.”
Anwar Sadat Egypt
“I was at a crossroads, to do what I really want to do or do what people were telling me to do… I decided I don't care what people think.”
Tems Nigeria
“A people that never abdicates, that never gives up, that stands up to adversity.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“Did you not know it in your hearts: I am your rampart of iron!”
Ramesses II Egypt
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King Jr. United States
“Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth.”
Malcolm X United States
“Chance has never yet satisfied the hope of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own freedom.”
Marcus Garvey United States
“In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a state interest of the highest order.”
Thurgood Marshall United States
“Nobody should be president for life. And your country is better off if you have new blood and new ideas.”
Barack Obama United States
“Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential people in my life. He was my hero, my friend, and also a companion to me in our fight for the people and for world peace.”
Pelé Brazil
“To be recognised by a whole country is incredible. … It's a message to everybody — politicians, the kids I grew up with, ordinary French people — about what can be done.”
Zinedine Zidane France / Algeria
“I hope you will catch the inspiration, grasp the opportunity to do something.”
Madam C. J. Walker United States
“I respectfully remind you sir, that we have been the most patient of all people.”
Jackie Robinson United States
“The key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go.”
Oprah Winfrey United States
“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.”
Katherine Johnson United States
“Being president doesn't change who you are — it reveals who you are.”
Michelle Obama United States
“'Seek ye first the political kingdom' became the principal slogan of the Convention People's Party, for without political independence none of our plans for social and economic development could be put into effect.”
Kwame Nkrumah Ghana
“Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that is superior to any other… God and history will remember your judgment.”
Haile Selassie Ethiopia
“The Preamble says that all nations, small or large, are equal. Are we equal when it comes to the permanent seats? No, we are not equal.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya
“Hear ye, all persons! ye people as many as ye are! I have done this according to the design of my heart.”
Hatshepsut Egypt
“Years and a chequered experience of good and evil fortune have so disillusioned me that I prefer to take reason rather than Fortune as my guide.”
Hannibal Barca Tunisia
“No community is beyond repair, and the dignity of a people is never fully extinguished.”
Paul Kagame Rwanda
“Immediate, swift and extraordinary action is required if we are to prevent a human catastrophe of enormous proportions in our country.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“As the first female President in the history of my country, the burden of expectation to deliver gender equality is heavier on my shoulder.”
Samia Suluhu Hassan Tanzania
“We must let the people decide, and then we must respect their decision. That is indeed the true essence of democracy.”
George Weah Liberia
“Hail, master — for Heaven has granted you the mastery and taken it from me.”
Cleopatra VII Egypt
“It's about breaking free from any societal pressure, any chain. It's about not being afraid to be yourself and just living your life regardless of what people say.”
Tems Nigeria
“The Eldorado our peoples dream of, we can build it here, and we have faith in this people.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”
Martin Luther King Jr. United States
“We need to expand the civil-rights struggle to a higher level — to the level of human rights.”
Malcolm X United States
“…those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”
Booker T. Washington United States
“I know no national boundary where the Negro is concerned. The whole world is my province until Africa is free.”
Marcus Garvey United States
“My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning.”
Kamala Harris United States
“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
Colin Powell United States
“I apologise to the millions of children who saw this act, and to the educators who teach what should and should not be done.”
Zinedine Zidane France / Algeria
“You are moving in the direction of freedom and the function of freedom is to free somebody else.”
Toni Morrison United States
“Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.”
Oprah Winfrey United States
“That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned… the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion.”
Haile Selassie Ethiopia
“I said, and I still say, that I bear the whole responsibility.”
Gamal Abdel Nasser Egypt
“My appeal is ultimately directed to us all, black and white together, to close the chapter on our past and to strive together for this beautiful and blessed land as the rainbow people of God.”
Desmond Tutu South Africa
“Only God, who appointed me, will remove me – not the MDC, not the British. Only God will remove me!”
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe
“Colonization should be punished. The countries that harmed other peoples during the colonial era should pay compensation for the damage and suffering inflicted under their colonial rule.”
Muammar Gaddafi Libya
“I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa and the people without even realising.”
Miriam Makeba South Africa
“Never was brought the like of this for any king who has been since the beginning.”
Hatshepsut Egypt
“Peace once established is a better and safer thing than hoping for victory; that is in your hands, this in the hands of the gods.”
Hannibal Barca Tunisia
“Our job is to make sure that every generation in Africa, enjoys a better life than the previous one.”
Paul Kagame Rwanda
“We owe this noble mission our courage. We must be brave and we must be bold.”
Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa
“My dear Nigerians, especially our youth, I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests…”
Bola Tinubu Nigeria
“Tonight, the CDC has lost the election, but Liberia has won. This is a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to place our country above party.”
George Weah Liberia
“I am not a servant of anybody. I am a freedom fighter; that is why I do what I do. … If anybody thinks you gave me a job, he is deceiving himself.”
Yoweri Museveni Uganda
“I have benefited first-hand from the power of sports to lead a healthy life and I am committed to working with WHO to share such gains worldwide.”
Didier Drogba Côte d'Ivoire
“For a moment I entertained the idea of spending the rest of my life in the service of this Shaykh, but my spirit, tenacious of its purpose, dissuaded me.”
Ibn Battuta Morocco
“We invite all other Africans, all these oppressed peoples, to unite in order to face adversity.”
Ibrahim Traoré Burkina Faso
“King of Kings am I, Osymandyas. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works.”
Ramesses II Egypt
“What becomes of the leader in all this? I announce that I am today taking leave of the Popular Movement of the Revolution, so that it may choose a new leader… Understand my emotion.”
Mobutu Sese Seko DR Congo
“Selma shows us that America is not the project of any one person. Because the single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word “We.””
Barack Obama United States
“Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.”
Colin Powell United States
“We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self.”
Huey P. Newton United States
“There is no demiurge, no illustrious man taking responsibility for everything, but … the demiurge is the people and the magic lies in their hands and their hands alone.”
Frantz Fanon Martinique / Algeria
“I am far from all those ideas, from this Front National. … Extremes are never good.”
Zinedine Zidane France / Algeria
“We face neither East nor West: we face forward.”
Kwame Nkrumah Ghana
“There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women. May my eyes never see… a society where half the people are held in silence.”
Thomas Sankara Burkina Faso
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass United States
“The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. But it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.”
Thurgood Marshall United States
“I'm asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.”
Barack Obama United States
“You have power, and don't you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.”
Kamala Harris United States
“We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black community.”
Huey P. Newton United States
“I went to work every day for 33 years happy. Never did I get up and say I don't want to go to work.”
Katherine Johnson United States