Discursive Construction of Presidential Legitimacy in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Inaugural Speeches

Language is central to constructing presidential legitimacy. This study xamines how legitimacy is discursively established in inaugural speeches from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, drawing on van Leeuwen’s (2007) and Reyes’ (2011) frameworks. A mixed-method approach combines qualitative discourse analysis with quantitative frequency counts, enabling the identification of both the presence and prominence of legitimation strategies and supporting comparative interpretation across speeches. The findings reveal the use of established strategies, including authorisation, moral evaluation, rationalisation, altruism, and mythopoesis, and identify novel strategies such as transcendental authority, popular legitimacy, morationalisation, vaunting rationalisation, mythosophy, appeal to performance, and rebuttal legitimisation. These additions extend existing legitimation models by incorporating context-specific and hybrid forms of authority and ethical-rational appeal. Comparative analysis shows regional differences: West African leaders emphasise spiritual and traditional symbols, whereas East African leaders rely on