However, there is another side to the story that might be hard to swallow. North Korea has been a promoter of youthful leadership at the apex of power. The story started in 1994 when Kim Jong-Il succeeded his late father, Kim Il-Sung. He was only 42 years. Today, at 27 or thereabouts, his successor and son, Kim Jong-Un, is a boy in all respects. Not many countries, including the established democracies, can boast of propelling such a young person to ultimate power. For those who crave after youthful leadership, North Korea provides a good example, though it is a detestable dictatorship. It is a country that does not just pay lip-service to the adage that the youth are leaders of tomorrow. Not many countries would entrust its leadership to a 27-year old without a fight.
Of course, Kim Jong-Un could have lived to be a 100 years before he took over so long as his father was still alive. It is not in doubt that his ascendancy to power is due to the fact that his path was long cleared by his father.It is a tradition started by the young man's grandfather to ensure that the Kim dynasty will rule North Korea to eternity - the country being a fiefdom of the Kim family whose members have no pretensions to democracy and human rights. On this score, Kim Jong-Un's rise is an unwelcome development. However, we cannot wish away the fact that dictatorships such as the one in North Korea always score an own goal that promotes affirmative action in favour of the oppressed minorities. Through their whimsical actions, despots make positive history that many people do not care to give them credit for in a classic case of the end not justifying the means. For example, nobody cares to remember that Africa's first female prime minister, Elizabeth Dimitien, was appointed by that self-confessed cannibal, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the late emperor and tyrant of the Central African Republic (CAR). That was in 1975. The bloodthirsty Ugandan despot, Idi Amin Dada, appointed a woman as a full minister before many democratic rulers did so. Sri Lanka may have had a history of bloodshed and political assassinations, but it has been a leader in promoting women to power. In 1960, Sri Lanka made history when the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman prime minister in the world. In 1994, her daughter Chandrika Kamaratunga was elected Sri Lankan president. The fact that the family patriarch Solomon Bandaranaike was a former prime minister who was assassinated in office did not raise eyebrows when the two women attained power in Sri Lanka.
