The lack of a succession plan, poor management quality, less attention to customer satisfaction, less consideration to stakeholders interest poor resource management and no continuity in execution earlier started tasks disregard to the need for respectful organizational stewardship, lack of accountability in leadership and hasty or unprepared leadership decisions can have severe consequences including organizational instability, loss of valuable institutional assets, knowledge, lowered employee morale, and increased staff turnover.

Leadership evolves through diverse styles influenced by knowledge, politics, culture, social contexts, and psychological traits, often reflecting broader societal shifts. These “colours” or trends range from adaptive, tech-driven approaches to inclusive practices shaped by personal and group identities, impacting organizational success for better or worse.

Immoral act reduce employee motivation and loyalty as lack of growth and opportunities to employee talent development discourage energetic movement.  Such failures erode trust, foster disengagement, and amplify conflicts, leading to inconsistent decision-making and higher absenteeism. As employees feel unsupported and directionless, immoral acts of leaders or neglect of due consideration for talent development their motivation and loyalty diminish. Such disregard unethical acts where unprepared leaders prioritize personal thrift growth over systemic improvement, result in reduce energetic drive for better performance.

There is a need for knowledge-or experience where decisions is evidence-based, to create innovation. Leadership that take advantage of power dynamics for personal gain is un worthy of the position of higher responsibility chair. Besides, low attitude to skill and experience undoubtedly result deleterious, governance models. Such leadership can neither strengthen nor aspire organizational success.

As pointed out immoral acts in leadership reduce motivation, loyalty, and trust. Similarly neglect of talent developmentsignals disregard for employee growth which ultimately leads to disengagement. Most often, unprepared leaders prioritize personal thrift and undermines systemic improvement. Failure of stewardship weakens organizational resilience and long-term prospects.

Leadership styles evolve reflecting broader societal changes including cultural, political, and technological trends which directly shape their effectiveness. Adaptive, inclusive, and knowledge-driven leadership styles tend to drive organizational resilience and innovation. On the contrary, leadership overly shaped by power struggles or personality flaws weakens governance and performance.

Ethiopia’s and most African political history reveals a persistent lack of robust, institutionalized succession planning, leading to centralized leadership around individuals and systemic collapses upon the individual  downfall. Lack of good governance in different states lead to their down fall.   Haile Selassie’s regime downfall highlighted the absence of a clear succession plan.  This over-reliance on personal rule, amid famine, economic stagnation, and military unrest, fueled the 1974 revolution, as no institutional mechanisms ensured continuity beyond the emperor. Leadership was unduly centralized around him, and when he fell, the entire system collapsed. The absence of collective leadership left the system vulnerable, culminating in the monarchy’s overthrow by the Derg.

Similarly,  Mengistu Haile Mariam’s rise within the Derg involved eliminating rivals like Generals Aman Andom and Tafari Benti, consolidating one-man rule under Marxist-Leninist ideology without provisions for handover.  Mengistu, leading to its rapid disintegration in 1991 amid insurgencies and this led to his flight to Zimbabwe. This highlighted governance flaws where revolutionary legitimacy overshadowed institutional resilience. The deposition of Mengistu dismantled not only his rule but also the entire governing structure, showing that the system was dependent on one man rather than institutional continuity.

The late PM Meles Zenawi’s death in 2012 exposed fractures in the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), as his personal authority had sidelined rivals and concentrated power, lacking a groomed successor. The event afterwards indicates shows leadership fractures within EPRDF that revealed the party’s heavily reliance on his personal authority. The lack of collective succession planning weakened the EPRDF existence. This a show case that bred instability without collective planning, resulting in leadership vacuums and internal purges.

PM Hailemariam Desalegn’s resignation due to inability to sustain leadership until the end of his term though appreciable which can be considered as responsible act than clinging rigidly to power until collapse. Off course his resignation in 2018 was framed as an effort to open space for reforms and national dialogue during a time of political unrest in Ethiopia. Yet the later fracture of EPRDF demonstrated the fragility of Ethiopia’s governance model and lack or absence of robust succession plan. But this is not to mean absolutely there was no good thing done in the previous administrations. Previous administrations, including Hailemariam’s and those before him, had both achievements and shortcomings.

Legacies are layered with both progress and setbacks. Goods: Infrastructure development, economic growth initiatives, and attempts at modernization. Bads: Political repression, limited democratic space, and unresolved ethnic tensions.

Anyhow, such dependency of leadership with only one person where power and skill is concentrated in a single figure or individual creates systemic vulnerability. Thus far outcomes clearly shows the need for creating enabling environment to fill the gap and sustain resilient leadership to withstand shock or maintain governance as it should be.

This is not a thing only in government high political position to day there is a need for  well-organized succession plan in both government organization and private companies. Ethiopia’s government organizations and private companies often lack robust succession planning, with positions frequently held until retirement or death or deposition for political case or otherwise. The absence of merit base assignment hinder carrier advancement and encourage staff turnover. Shifting to open the system, to merit-driven succession requires transparent recruitment, independent oversight clean from political or other secular affiliation, prioritizing skills and training over favoritism. This approach needs open door for merit base renovation away from political deal in civil service.

Al the same, this is not to mean that good leadership is only a matter of succession plan only, there is more to it with modern principle of management that help to bring good governance. Just moving forward breaking old ties with old backward procedures will let us have new better alternative to find resolution to move forward.

Adopting new modern approach with open  mindset promotes constructive engagement, enabling all to work together towards common goals with energy rather than remaining stuck with dirty bureaucratic tricks Good leadership transcends mere succession planning; it integrates modern governance principles to foster effective, transparent, and inclusive systems that drive progress beyond outdated bureaucratic practices. Adapting agile methods and the state of art in management will help deliver services timely using resources optimally, taking advantage of all available means to meet needs with innovation.

Just putting leadership at cliff edge with no succession plan resulted clumsy down fall so far and will not do good to move forward with honor. Appling good management or leadership makes  the difference between patching up a cracked foundation and rebuilding one that can truly hold for generations. This principle applies everywhere: in our organizations, in our communities, and in the international arena.

Leadership without foresight collapses, while leadership with sustainable structures endures. Thus we must advocate for leadership structures strong enough to sustain progress over time. Leadership is not about fragile fixes. It is about the courage to rebuild, to transform, system with sustainable growth with instrumental mind to endure better work and life atmosphere.

Good leadership enables smooth transitions that maintain momentum, morale, and effective governance which promotes progress and honours. True leadership cultivates an instrumental mind-set one that endures challenges, nurtures resilience, and creates better atmospheres for both work and life. It is not reactive, but visionary. It does not cling to temporary remedies, but lays foundations that last.

Governance and leadership are complex, involving both progress and setbacks. The balance of good and bad underlines the need for sustained reforms aimed at building stronger, more resilient leadership frameworks and governance structures that can better manage transitions and withstand challenges without dissolving into fragmentation.

You can reach the writer via gzachewwolde@gmail.com

African governments have agreed on a 10-year agenda to overhaul how the continent trains, deploys, and retains its health workforce. The agenda positions education reform, governance and labour-market alignment at the centre of Africa’s health-system competitiveness, ahead of the agenda’s formal launch in 2026.

The scale of Africa’s healthcare worker problem is stark. WHO warns of a projected shortfall of 6.1 million health workers by 2030, even as the region’s headcount rose from 1.6 million in 2013 to 5.1 million in 2022.

The Agenda’s architects have framed the shortage as “a market and fiscal failure.” Needs-based modelling places required health workers at roughly 9.75 million in 2022, rising to more than 11.8 million by 2030.

“If we do not act boldly and collectively, the gap between what our health systems need and the workers available will only widen,” according to Dr Adelheid Onyango of WHO-AFRO, framing Pretoria as a hinge moment for investment and system reform.

The agenda’s five priorities include governance, modernised education, employment and retention, an investment charter, and labour-market intelligence, which were chosen to close the loop between training outputs and absorptive capacity. That loop is where most countries stumble; they can train graduates, but cannot always pay or deploy them.

According to sector analysts, the consensus signals a shift from “training for supply” to “training for service readiness.”

“This agenda is significant because it forces governments to confront the full chain, from training to employment to retention,” explained Charles Oluoch, the KMPDU regional lead for Western Region, in a virtual interview.

“We cannot keep graduating clinicians into unemployment or exporting them by default. If countries follow through on this framework, we can finally stabilise staffing, negotiate from a stronger fiscal position, and build working conditions that keep workers in the system.”

Africa’s brain-drain problem underscores the urgency of the problem. According to the National Health Institutes, over the last five years, more than 75,000 Nigerian nurses and midwives have migrated to countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. At the same time, local population levels have risen sharply, intensifying continental demand.

According to WHO, the number of Ghanaian nurses seeking verification to practise abroad rose from 2,678 in 2020 to 6,208 in 2022, a 232% increase that signals sharply rising intent to emigrate.

A recent study published in BMC Nursing, shows Kenya receives an average of 840 certificate-verification applications annually from nurses intending to migrate. While this is far below union estimates of several thousand departures each year, it still represents a significant drain on a health system already struggling to absorb new graduates.

In fact, WHO’s latest analysis estimates that eight of the world’s top 10 health-worker emigration hotspots are African countries, a trend that risks deepening shortages even as training numbers rise.

Yet even against this backdrop of rising shortages and migration, several countries are starting to show what course correction looks like.

Rwanda illustrates how digital learning can shift training capacity. The government, in May 2025, launched an AI-powered platform that replaces cascade, in-person training with a flipped-classroom model and real-time remote support for its 58,567 community health workers.

The platform integrates with the community electronic medical record system, using AI to flag cases, track CHW performance and recommend targeted refresher modules, a move designed to boost diagnostic accuracy and reduce supervision gaps.

“This capacity-building platform is a game-changer for Rwanda’s health system,” said Prof Claude Mambo Muvunyi, Director General of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

“By harnessing AI and digital tools, we’re ensuring CHWs have the support they need to save lives, efficiently, equitably and at scale.”

Nigeria is also advancing a sweeping set of nursing and midwifery reforms to strengthen frontline staffing. The new 2025–2030 Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery expands school enrolment from 28,000 to 115,000 students, approves the recruitment of 20,000 health workers, 60% of them nurses and midwives, and introduces a national retention strategy to stabilise primary care. The plan’s six pillars cover education expansion, deployment and retention, regulation, leadership, data systems and service delivery.

According to Ministry officials, the framework is designed to fix uneven distribution and raise the quality of training.

“The strategy aims to boost training, strengthen regulation, and place qualified professionals where needed most,” said Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is also digitising accreditation and tightening standards, backed by WHO-supported investments in simulation labs, ICT equipment, and school accreditation systems.

South Africa is also pursuing a structural fix through its 2030 Human Resources for Health Strategy. According to the strategy, the National Department of Health will establish a permanent health‑workforce planning unit and a national stakeholder platform, the Health Workforce Consultative and Advisory Forum (HWCAF), to synchronise training, regulation, data, and budgeting.

The architecture aims to enable integrated planning across national, provincial, district, and facility levels and support a comprehensive health workforce information system.

The strategy highlights that nearly 97,000 additional health workers will be needed to achieve equitable distribution, including a significant number of community health workers.

According to Oluoch, if the Agenda succeeds, Africa stands to gain a more productive health workforce, lower service costs through task-sharing and digital support, and a measurable narrowing of the 6.1-million gap by 2030.

“If it falters, the cycle of training without hiring, and migration without retention, could deepen.”

“This agenda provides the roadmap. However, its impact will depend on the budgets and boards that carry it forward.”