Abstract
This article discusses Lisa B. Ncube’s essay entitled: Ubuntu: A Transformative leadership philosophy which appeared in the Journal of Leadership Studies (2010) Volume 4, Issue Number 3 from page 77 to page 82. In this essay Ncube argues that most of the problems bedeviling Africa today are a result of lack of good leadership. She, therefore, argues for ubuntu as the panacea to Africa’s problems. She goes on to outline some of the ubuntu principles which she thinks can be utilized to cultivate and nurture good leadership. While I agree with her on the need to marshal ubuntu to transform leadership in Africa, I quarrel with her especially as she fails to give her argument a specific context and as she fails to explain why Western philosophies of leadership are not suitable for Africa. I provide a brief expose of Western leadership philosophies and their theoretical underpinnings before explaining why these theories do not apply in Africa. I then argue for the appropriateness of hunhu or ubuntu as an ethical guide for Post-colonial African leadership by utilizing Martin Prozesky’s ten qualities of ubuntu and I use Zimbabwe as my test case.