Professionalism and Ethics in Military Leadership: Lessons from Pre-colonial Africa

This paper examines the role of professionalism and ethics in military leadership using examples from pre-colonial Africa. The Maasai warriors of East Africa provided professional military service to their society which rose to the position of hegemony in the region. Shaka developed a professional army which, through military might, placed the Zulu in a position of hegemony in Southern Africa. However, the undermining of military ethics resulted in the decline of professionalism and eventual failure in both the Maasai military and in Shaka’s military leadership. The paper concludes that military ethics must be consistently upheld to ensure professionalism and successful military leadership.