monarchs-from-africa

"Neither armies nor treasure form the bulwarks of a throne, but friends; these you can neither acquire by force of arms nor buy with gold; it is by devotion and loyalty that they are won."

"This scourge has affected the districts within my jurisdiction, including Lusaka, Chongwe, Kafue, Chilanga, and Shibuyunji. The people in these areas are equally vulnerable to this disease. However, as traditional leaders, we have been actively engaged in the national effort to combat HIV/AIDS by educating our communities about upholding high moral standards, avoiding promiscuous behavior, prohibiting traditional sexual cleansing practices, and discouraging polygamy."

"The tarring of Leopards Hill Road to Chiyaba should not stop at Katoba Junction. Instead, another contractor should be engaged to continue the road construction and tarring all the way to Great East Road via Chalimbana University."

"The fundamental principle and purpose of this ceremony is to seek the blessings of our ancestral spirits and the Almighty God through prayer, asking for abundant rainfall and favorable weather conditions to help people grow enough food for their sustenance."

"The matter of customary land disputes among chiefdoms will be a primary focus of her agenda when she takes office."

"I have been reliably informed that they will begin offering degree programs in January 2013, following the institution's transformation into a university."

"I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the PF government for transforming the National In-Service Teachers College (NISTCOL) into a fully-fledged university. I sincerely thank His Excellency, President Michael Chilufya Sata, for recognizing this significant milestone."

"[The nameless one to Shaka] As you possess this blade, so it will possess you"

"[Ngomane to General Bhuza]There's always been a fine line between soldiering and killing general, many would say soldiers are killers"

"[Shaka to the Fasimba regiment] Our strategy is ludicrous, in fact we go on our way to make ourselves known. We toss away our weapon hoping that the enemy will be courteous enough to return it back to us."

"[To Mudli during Sigujana's Coronation] Does my presence frighten you, Elder? Or is it your guilt that prevents your allegiance"

"O people of Islam, steadfastness means resolution, faint-heartedness means failure. Be sure of this, those who persevere are those who will vanquish. Faint-heartedness and cowardice are the twin causes of disappointment. God will see that whoever is constant triumphs over his enemy, for God is with him. Whoever holds his ground against the cutting edge of a sword, he is the achiever of the future; and will never again suffer fatigue. If he walks with God, his dwelling place shall be the more honoured, his efforts acknowledged, for God loves those who persevere."

"The main focus should be put on programs that will help eradicate poverty amongst the citizens so as to boost the speed at which the nation develops."

"It would be wise if government revived the cooperatives so as to enable coffee farmers to have a collective voice partaking to coffee production."

"Farmers cooperatives first started in Uganda in Buganda in 1913. By the time the colonialists came we were already way ahead, growing coffee and cotton that have been, and are still, key to the economic growth of Uganda. I urge everyone to continue growing coffee."

"If that is your belief you are of no use to me or to my people; we knew all that before you came to preach to us. I and my people believe there is only one God – I am that God. We believe there is one place to which all good people go; that is Zululand. We believe that there is one place where all bad people go. There (pointing to a rocky hill to the north, the hill of execution). There is hell where all my wicked people go. The chief who lives there is Umatiwane, the head of the Amangwane. I put him to death, and made him the devil chief of all wicked people who die. You see that there are but two chiefs in this country – Matiwane and myself; I am the Great Chief – the God of the living; Umatiwane is the Great Chief of the wicked. I have now told you my belief; I do not want you to trouble me again with the fiction of you English people. You can remain in my country as long as you conduct yourself properly."

"Pray to your God to keep me from the power of Dingaan."

"I see that every white man is an enemy to the black, and every black man an enemy to the white, they do not love each other and never will."

"Dingarn's conduct was worthy of a savage as he is. It was base and treacherous, to say the least of it – the offspring of cowardice and fear. Suspicious of his warlike neighbours, jealous of their power, dreading the neighbourhood of their arms, he felt as every savage would have done in like circumstances that these men were his enemies, and being unable to attack them openly, he massacred them clandestinely."

"Whenever we (people of Swaziland) go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland."

"Africa's last remaining absolute monarch, King Mswati III of Swaziland, took power at the age of eighteen. Since then he has allowed his country to slide into extreme poverty, with 69 percent of the Swazi people living on less than $1 a day. Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world: almost 40 percent. The nation operated without a constitution for thirty years. Mswati agreed to implement a new one in 2006; however, it bans political parties, gives Mswati the right to reject any laws passed by the legislature, and grants him immunity from all possible crimes."

"Sustaining the SDGs (sustainable development goals) will require that member states develop innovative financing strategies to ensure that implementation reaches those most left behind. At this critical juncture, including Taiwan is an essential next step if we are to successfully achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We call for Taiwan's inclusion in the United Nations system, which encompasses participation in meetings, mechanisms and activities that pertain to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Doing so would not only strengthen global cooperation and partnership, but also emphasize the principle of ensuring that "no one is left behind"."

"We call on the United Nations once again to uphold the principle of universality and its multilateral efforts toward total inclusion and to allow Taiwan to participate in relevant extensions on a dignified and equal footing."

"I’m for everyone. I want every one to be a child of God. I want both sides to have peace."

"To really die for your country you become a hero. He was most impressed by the King dream for peace and human rights and that is my dream for Rwanda."

"My people did not choose to end the monarchy in Rwanda, that was imposed on them by the (Belgians)."

"The genocide is a result of a loss of respect and culture. The young people do not respect or listen to their elders - If I am allowed to return, I will encourage intermarriage among the groups so that we can become one people again."

"A king is like a father to the nation... All the tribes are like his children."

"We wish to recall here the spirit of tolerance shown by Our Lord Jesus Christ when He gave forgiveness to all including those that crucified Him."

"This age above all ages is a period in history when it should be our prime duty to preach the Gospel of Grace to all our fellow men and women. The love shown in Christ by our God to mankind should constrain all of us who are followers and disciples of Christ to do all in our power to see to it that the Message of Salvation is carried to those of our fellows for whom Christ Our Saviour was sacrificed but who have not had the benefit of hearing the good news. Since nobody can interfere in the realm of God we should tolerate and live side by side with those of other faiths."

"We have decided to bring to an end the most unequal, most unjust, most barbarous war of our age, and have chosen the road to exile in order that our people will not be exterminated and in order to consecrate ourselves wholly and in peace to the preservation of our empire's independence … we now demand that the League of Nations should continue its efforts to secure respect for the covenant, and that it should decide not to recognize territorial extensions, or the exercise of an assumed sovereignty, resulting from the illegal recourse to armed force and to numerous other violations of international agreements."

"In the history of the human race, those periods which later appeared as great have been the periods when the men and the women belonging to them had transcended the differences that divided them and had recognized in their membership in the human race a common bond."

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph."

"In time of war it suits the enemy to aim his guns at adorned shields, ornaments, silver and gold cloaks, silk shirts and all similar things. Whether one possesses a jacket or not, it is best to wear a narrow-sleeved shirt with faded colours. When we return, with God's help, you can wear your gold and silver decorations then. Now it is time to go and fight. We offer you all these words of advice in the hope that no great harm should befall you through lack of caution. At the same time, We are glad to assure you that in time of war We are ready to shed Our blood in your midst for the sake of Ethiopia's freedom..."

"The people of the United States join with me today in extending to Your Imperial Majesty heartiest congratulations on the 25th Anniversary of your accession to the throne and in sending best wishes for your continued health and happiness. On this significant occasion it is gratifying to see the fulfillment of the confidence expressed by this Government at the time of your coronation. Under your reign the traditional ties of friendship and mutual understanding between our two countries, as well as the sympathetic cooperation of our peoples, have indeed been strengthened, and I am confident that the mutual aspirations of our peoples will further enhance this relationship in the years to come."

"Education is a means of sharpening the mind of man both spiritually and intellectually. It is a two-edged sword that can be used either for the progress of mankind or for its destruction. That is why it has been Our constant desire and endeavor to develop our education for the benefit of mankind. A qualified man with vision, unmoved by daily selfish interests, will be led to right decisions by his conscience. In general, a man who knows from whence he comes and where he is going will co-operate with his fellow human beings. He will not be satisfied with merely doing his ordinary duties but will inspire others by his good example. You are being watched by the nation and you should realize that you will satisfy it if you do good; but if, on the contrary, you do evil, it will lose its hope and its confidence in you."

"The art of leadership is in the ability to make people want to work for you, while they are really under no obligation to do so. Leaders are people, who raise the standards by which they judge themselves and by which they are willing to be judged. The goal chosen, the objective selected, the requirements imposed, are not mainly for their followers alone. They develop with consumate energy and devotion, their own skill and knowledge in order to reach the standard they themselves have set. This whole-hearted acceptance of the demands imposed by even higher standards is the basis of all human progress. A love of higher quality, we must remember, is essential in a leader."

"Haile Selassie had surely made many mistakes during his very long tenure, first and foremost his being in a constant limbo between reform and conservatism, without ever having made a definitive decision. But the revolution which toppled him in the name of freedom and progress has revealed itself to be a hundred times worse than his regime; it has caused irreperable damage; has [forced Ethiopia into] a civil war which Haile Selassie had always tried to prevent; it has accelerated rather than halted the disintigration of the country... Whatever the final judgement on Haile Selassie, his image deserves respect and consideration. It's impossible not to feel a sense of great admiration and recognition towards a man who on 30 June 1936, at the Genevan tribune of the League of Nations, denounced the crimes of Fascism to the world and warned that Ethiopia would have been but the first victim of that deathly ideology. For this message, unfortunately unheeded, we are all a bit indebted."

"Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others. The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations."

"Spiritual power is the eternal guide, in this life and the life after, for man ranks supreme among all creatures. Led forward by spiritual power, man can reach the summit destined for him by the Great Creator."

"The Emperor of Ethiopia has been deposed by a military coup … Poor Haile Selassie; over the past few years he'd lost control and the inevitable was bound to happen. I remember his attendance at the monarchy celebrations, how he snatched his hand away when I tried to help him from his car, telling me he could manage well enough on his own, thank you very much. Likewise during the recent drought when thousands of his people were dying he refused all HIM's offers of help, denying that anyone was suffering or even that there was a drought. He saw himself as a mighty ruler, but now the truth has caught up with him. At the Shavand Palace today I could think of nothing but Haile Selassie's fate. Inevitably one is inclined to draw parallels … They are not reassuring ..."

"The atrocities for which [members of the Derg regime] are now collectively indicted can tempt the unwary into nostalgia for Haile Selassie. It is easy to forget that the emperor used to authorise public hangings, that his opponents were routinely tortured, that courtiers who fell from grace were not only jailed but frequently held in chains as well, and that concepts of justice, liberty and democracy were effectively outlawed from public debate."

"Among today's Italians, when treading upon Haile Selassie's memory, the sense of guilt and shame is such that they react by seeing only his positive traits: the merits of his past actions. His portrayals always brim with excessive deferance, unwarranted admiration and delusion. They go on and on about his priestly composure, his regal dignity, his great intelligence and his generosity towards former adversaries. They never explain who this sovereign, who we made into a victim, really was. They never dare tell us if he was something more, or less, than a victim. For example, that he was an old man hardened in principles which were centuries out of date; that he was the absolute ruler of a nation which has never heard the words rights and democracy, which lives in a near prehistoric fashion in the suburbs, opressed by hunger, disease, ignorance and the squallor of a feudal regime which even we did not experience during the darkest years of the Medieval period."

"The United Nations continues to sense as the forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before world opinion. It still provides the essential escape valve without which the slow build-up of pressures would have long since resulted in catastrophic explosion."

"The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man: abjugation of force in the settlement of disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security. But these, too, as were the phrases of the Covenant, are only words; their value depends wholly on our will to observe and honour them and give them content and meaning. The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act — and if necessary, to suffer and die — for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. These lessons must be learned anew by each succeeding generation, and that generation is fortunate indeed which learns from other than its own bitter experience. This Organization and each of its members bear a crushing and awesome responsibility: to absorb the wisdom of history and to apply it to the problems of the present, in order that future generations may be born, and live, and die, in peace."

"Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success."

"How different in 1963 are the attitudes of men. We then existed in an atmosphere of suffocating pessimism. Today, cautious yet buoyant optimism is the prevailing spirit. But each one of us here knows that what has been accomplished is not enough. The United Nations judgments have been and continue to be subject to frustration, as individual member-states have ignored its pronouncements and disregarded its recommendations. The Organization's sinews have been weakened, as member states have shirked their obligations to it. The authority of the Organization has been mocked, as individual member-states have proceeded, in violation of its commands, to pursue their own aims and ends."

"There is no single magic formula, no one simple step, no words, whether written into the Organization's Charter or into a treaty between states, which can automatically guarantee to us what we seek. Peace is a day-to day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an "is", it is a "becoming." We cannot escape the dreadful possibility of catastrophe by miscalculation. But we can reach the right decisions on the myriad subordinate problems which each new day poses, and we can thereby make our contribution and perhaps the most that can be reasonably expected of us in 1963 to the preservation of peace. It is here that the United Nations has served us — not perfectly, but well."

"Disarmament has become the urgent imperative of our time. I do not say this because I equate the absence of arms to peace, or because I believe that bringing an end to the nuclear arms race automatically guarantees the peace, or because the elimination of nuclear warheads from the arsenals of the world will bring in its wake that change in attitude requisite to the peaceful settlement of disputes between nations. Disarmament is vital today, quite simply, because of the immense destructive capacity of which men dispose."

"Twenty-seven years ago, as Emperor of Ethiopia, I mounted the rostrum in Geneva, Switzerland, to address the League of Nations and to appeal for relief from the destruction which had been unleashed against my defenceless nation, by the Fascist invader. I spoke then both to and for the conscience of the world. My words went unheeded, but history testifies to the accuracy of the warning that I gave in 1936. Today, I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its discredited predecessor. In this body is enshrined the principle of collective security which I unsuccessfully invoked at Geneva. Here, in this Assembly, reposes the best — perhaps the last — hope for the peaceful survival of mankind."