They promise heaven but can’t deliver even purgatory

They promise heaven but can’t deliver even purgatory
By Editor
Fri 25 June 2010, 04:00 CAT

Consistently practiced, political honesty is a road that leads a politician’s mind and will to doing good things, to the creation of a more just, fair and humane society. For if someone once said that all roads led to Rome, today it can be stated that all roads of honest thinking lead to a better society, a better world.

Clearly, the dishonest road that Rupiah Banda and his friends have decided to take will not develop the country and improve the living conditions of our people. Dishonest statements made to appease people and induce them to vote for Rupiah and his political party are not a recipe for governing well.

It seems all that bothers Rupiah and his friends is re-election. They are being guided only by the wish to win next year’s elections. Again, this is not a recipe for governing well. You cannot run an administration forever on fake promises, on promising things you know your national budget cannot accommodate.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, Mike Mulongoti, Rupiah’s Minister of Works and Supply, admitted that there was pressure from Rupiah on them that resulted in overcommitments:

“Yes, the President has made so many statements. Of course when the President goes out to meet people and they tell him about the bad road network, you don’t expect the President to say to the people this can’t be done now or in the near future, no, that’s suicide. He has to assure them that planners are coming and that he will instruct the Minister of Finance to mobilise resources from wherever he can. It’s a marketing strategy, you are also doing it in other political parties. Remember that there may be only a few months left before the elections so you expect him to say that.”

Mulongoti finds this to be acceptable behaviour. It seems to him there is nothing wrong in telling the people lies, in promising them what cannot be delivered. It seems they think that telling the people the truth can never win them an election. And so they would rather win the people’s support with lies than lose them with truth. There is need for political leaders to be truthful with the people at all times and win their support with truth and not lies.

Maybe we should again remind Mulongoti and his boss about what that Guinea Bissau revolutionary Amilcar Cabral once said: “Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”

It doesn’t do anyone any good to promise people things that cannot be delivered. Promising roads when you don’t have any money for their construction may win you support for that particular moment, that particular hour or day.

But the day for delivery will come, and if nothing is done, face will be lost. But our politicians don’t see things that way because they live for the day and tomorrow is left to sort itself out. They can promise all sorts of things to win an election but they don’t care what happens after they have won. Even if they have not delivered anything, they will find a way to justify that – they may even blame it on someone else. It is time our people started to take stock of what each politician has delivered on their promises, especially those who have had the opportunity to be in government. There is need to always bear in mind that what our people are struggling for are not the promises in one’s head. They are struggling to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.

Our politicians should learn to recognise as a matter of conscience that there have been faults and errors in their work: an important number of things they should have done have not been done at the right times, or not done at all.

There is no need to promise people heaven, all sorts of things, when one cannot even deliver purgatory to them. Just as they tell the people what they would do, we feel our politicians should also tell them what they could not do. There is no need to patronise our people with lies because they also have a role to play in developing our country. Instead of patronising them, challenge them, tell them that if they want better things – better roads, hospitals, schools and so on and so forth – they have to work hard because you cannot do it all for them; they must do it themselves. If we accept things as such, we will understand that it’s up to us all to do something about it. The politicians have to work with the people to deliver development.

And if they have to work with the people, they can only do so if they are telling them the truth because there is no partnership founded on lies that can work, that can deliver something good. It’s this notion of thinking that simply because one is president, then he can just press a button and a road will be there where there was none or a bad road will be patched or mended. Things don’t work like that. That’s why there is planning and budgeting for all these things. One can’t just wake up one morning just because there is a by-election in Chifubu and start grading roads that were not on the plans or budgets. Yes, this may be easy to command but there are consequences because money that was supposed to go to other things will be diverted to something that was not budgeted for. This leads to anarchy and chaotic results. There is need for planning and budgeting and adherence to plans and budgets.

Let us not be mistaken: the best government in the world, the best president, cannot achieve much on their own. And it would also be wrong to expect a general remedy from them only. It won’t do for Rupiah to be going round ordering this or that road to be done. We hope those who have been promised roads by Rupiah have learnt something from Mulongoti’s revelation: it is simply a marketing strategy for winning elections.

This calls for increased participation from all of us in the affairs of our country. We say this because when we are all participating, it becomes very difficult for anyone to tell us a lie. Let us not forget that democracy includes participation and therefore responsibility from all of us. Let us teach ourselves and others that politics can be not only the art of the possible, especially if this means the art of speculation, calculation, intrigue, secret deals and pragmatic manoeuvring, but that it can even be the art of the impossible, namely, the art of improving ourselves and our county.

Clearly, the future policies of our country will depend on the personalities we select or elect to be our representatives. It is therefore important that we vote wisely and only for people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all. It will be unwise to put into office people who can tell lies, promise things they know very well they will not be able to do but are willing to do that just to win an election. All those who have been promised roads, make sure they are delivered before the elections. But where will Rupiah get the money from? So it is highly unlikely that you will see those roads they promised you before the next elections.