What African Youth Expect from Today’s Politicians

By Divine Adongo | Voices of Africa

In a packed university hall in Accra, a student rises during a town hall meeting and asks a question that silences the room: “When will we stop being ruled and start being represented?” Her voice echoes the silent frustration of millions of African youth who are tired of clapping for leaders who do not serve, tired of queuing to vote only to be forgotten the next day, and tired of watching the old promise to build a future they will not live in.

Across the continent, a generational shift is unfolding. Africa’s youth — vibrant, connected, and increasingly vocal — are demanding a new kind of leadership. Not just younger leaders, but better leaders. Leaders who listen before they speak. Leaders who serve before they seek. Leaders who understand that legitimacy is not inherited through power or party, but earned through purpose, humility, and delivery.

For far too long, leadership in Africa has been equated with entitlement. Many political elites see the state not as a public trust, but as personal property — a ladder to wealth, a shield from accountability, and a stage for praise. Elections are treated like rituals, not renewals of mandate. Manifestos are written to win votes, not to guide governance. The result is a growing disconnect between rulers and the ruled — a legitimacy crisis that no campaign slogan can fix.

But today’s youth are different. They have seen through the performance. They know when leaders are lying. They ask for policies, not poetry. They want results, not rituals. And they are watching — from their smartphones, on social media, in classrooms, and on the streets. They no longer believe leadership is a throne to be inherited; they believe it is a responsibility to be earned. This is why movements like #FeesMustFall in South Africa, #EndSARS in Nigeria, #FixTheCountry in Ghana, and youth-led constitutional protests in Uganda and Senegal have shaken political systems, not just with anger, but with clarity.

Youth are not merely demanding change — they are redefining it. They want leadership that is accountable, inclusive, and visionary. They are asking: Who audits the government? Who benefits from our taxes? Why is corruption normalized? Why are we building roads to impress foreign investors while hospitals go without medicine? Why are presidents flying private jets while students share desks?

At the heart of this movement is a demand for legitimacy. And legitimacy cannot be bought or forced. It is built — slowly, intentionally — through transparency, responsiveness, justice, and results. A legitimate leader is not the one with the biggest billboard, but the one whose policies reach the last village. Not the one with foreign endorsements, but the one with local trust. Not the one who wins elections, but the one who governs ethically after them.

The challenge is that many African systems are not designed for such leadership. Political parties are often dynastic. Civic spaces are shrinking. Youth wings are used as foot soldiers, not decision-makers. In some cases, challenging the status quo is treated as treason. But history shows that when young people are excluded from politics, they will find other ways to be heard — through protests, petitions, satire, or even migration. Africa cannot afford to lose its brightest minds to apathy, exile, or silence.

There is hope. In Botswana, Ghana, Cape Verde, and Kenya, we see examples of vibrant civil societies holding governments accountable. In Rwanda and Ethiopia, we’ve seen experiments in rapid reform (though not without criticism). In Senegal and Zambia, youth-led voting has shifted political landscapes. And in nearly every country, from urban slums to remote communities, young Africans are running for office, launching start-ups, organizing debates, and reimagining governance from the ground up.

What Africa needs is not just leadership change — but a change in how we define leadership. Leadership is not about age, but about integrity. Not about charisma, but about competence. Not about control, but about co-creation. The youth are not the problem — they are the solution. The task before us is to build systems where their ideas are heard, their votes matter, and their future is respected.

If Africa is to rise, its leadership must be worthy of its people — especially its young people. Because they are not waiting to be led. They are watching. They are organizing. They are leading already.