The current economic performance of most African countries is exposing that most of them are characterised by the vicissitudes under which they can no longer conceal their impecuniousness.

It is only the alethophobic individuals (those with fear of the truth) and sycophants whose existence is defined by corruption that want us to be optimistic about a shattered future that presents uncertainty for posterity. Some countries in the African continent can best be described as chiefly karkstocratic, because the incompetent and less suitable people are corruptly placed in positions of authority.

That explains why the continent blames the current economic failures on global economic meltdown that steeped sharply in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It is unfortunate that no mention is made of the dromomanic state of some of the continental leaders, who traverse places purposelessly resulting in catastrophic spending.

The devastating economic and political disastrous circumstances expose the unpreparedness of African countries to deal with economic shocks that define our contemporary existence. It is deplorable that the leaders have subjected the citizens of countries in the beautiful continent to desolation and mortification. What hurts, is their failure to blame their covetousness and dromomanic behaviour for the economic slump of the continent. The citizens of Africa remain submerged in squalour and wretchedness, whilst some of the leaders travel excessively for personal aggrandisement and wander gratification.

It has become evident that the resources that are ever dwindling get drained in benchmarking excursions that are meant to enrich a few, whilst the majority of the people remain in abject poverty. The poor souls are tenaciously holding to the illusory dreams of economic prosperity that are supposed to emerge from misguided travels and exotic concepts. Instead of the leaders remaining in their countries to combat the economic, political, social and technological problems, they are infatuated by wanderlust or suffer from undiagnosed dromomania.

It is calamitous that some African leaders spend time outside their offices and are ever glorified by the panjandrums that masquerade as scholars, who have evidently sold their souls to the continental ruling elite. Owing to the dwindling continental economies, it has become absolutely necessary to subject African leaders to medical examination on Dromomania. Sadly, dromomania is an aberrational fugue to travel or uncontrollable psychological urge to wander or simply finding pleasure in wanderlust. It is apparent that some African leaders are spending more time travelling despite having the human capital at their disposal that can deal with the challenges that the continent is experiencing. They prefer to embark on the fruitless activities of benchmarking and partnerships that do not present tangible results, save to tantalise continental citizens.

The continent is yet again sold the exotic concepts that are contextually irrelevant such as privatisation, which is imported into the continent to destroy any indigenisation attempts. It is worthy to note that the boomerang Aid that inebriated the continent of Africa for years left some of its leaders tenaciously holding to the misconception that Africa can be developed by foreigners.

Dromomania according to Dr Michael Brein, a renowned travel psychologist who specialises in travel and intercultural communication, “legitimate travel addiction is possible, although figuring out what causes it is incredibly complicated.” It is this intricate part referred to by the aforementioned scholar that justifies investment by African scientists to carry out studies on dromomania. The scientific studies on dromomania can save the continent massive resources that are currently expended on unbeneficial travels that are made possible at the expense of suffering continental citizens, whose national resources are put to waste. It is important to subject African leaders to periodic dromomanic examinations, which should lead to their disqualification if they test positive. This arrangement is necessary as it will allow only leaders who do not have the medical condition of dromomania to hold office. The African leaders should constructively and timely make decisions to address problems that besiege the continent without having to travel excessively. It is absolutely necessary for the leaders to remain in their countries to employ combative strategies to deal with corruption, malversation and other maladies that have entangled the continent in its current economic morass.

It is worthwhile to note that there is a case that can serve to inform any studies on dromomania, which is that of Jean-Arbert Dadas as documented by the then Medical student named Phillippe Tissie, who researched and made an informative presentation on his doctoral dissertation in 1887 about the misguided traveler, Dadas.

As noted by Tissie, like every inexplicable epidemic that erupts during certain epochs and disappears just as fast, ‘pathological tourism’ was a baffling phenomenon for the psych world of 19th century France. While Dadas might have had the unexplained fresh mania, he was in fact one of the countless cases presenting inexplicable and uncontrollable wanderlust, with each victim being unable to recall their trajectory or why they felt compelled to start a journey.

Another documented effort that is worth mentioning is that of Jean-Martin Charcot, which she called automatisme ambulatoire - French for “ambulatory automatism” or “walking around without being in control of one’s own actions.” It is evident that where leaders get elected or appointed into positions of power and are dromomaniac, they waste resources of their countries on excessive useless travels.

Dromomania or wanderlust can be characterised as mental disorder that is under researched, which provides an opportunity for modern medical researchers to find more about it. Only a handful of cases of such behaviour are documented to date.