Maravi

Thug-like leaders

Thug-like leaders
By The Post
Tue 04 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT

WHAT do signs of political degeneracy and decay look like? Fr Paul Samasumo says “the new political culture seems to embrace intolerance, hooliganism and violence as an accepted norm. Party cadres are clearly out of control. The trend is being encouraged by political leaders when they fail to speak clearly against this tendency...”

Political degeneracy and decay have many manifestations and intolerance ranks very high among them and is probably at the centre of it. We say this because intolerance must surely rank as one of the worst forms of immorality in human affairs. We can see the whole of this in people who go out to organise violence against someone simply because he or she hold different views from those they or their top leaders hold.

We are increasingly witnessing a sub-cultural blood being nursed with speeches at political meetings endlessly. It is quite true that acceptance of criticism, of opposition implies the highest respect for human ideal, and that its denial suggests a conscious or unconscious lack of humanity on our part. We seem to be really stuck in a culture of zealous worship of political leaders and we are establishing a reputation for intolerance that is difficult to match.

Shamefully, our politicians are anxious to reduce our people to an obsequious mass: oppressed, mutilated, hungry and terrified - a country of weeping. Worse still, our politicians, especially those in government, hold the common citizens to ransom by insisting that since they are the only ones who have been elected by the people, they alone have the sacred right to rule. End of debate. The rest is fear, silence and bewilderment. They will even go as far as allowing party cadres to run their lives for as long as it means that they are being seen to be on the side of the dominant party and government leadership.

This is our tragedy, the inability to value every single innocent life and bring happiness to our people without demanding eternal gratitude. Our political leaders are fond of manipulating and compromising those under their authority. And when it comes to serving the people, our politicians forget that there’s plenty of room for everyone. Yet they are unhappy when others show leadership abilities. They eschew other leaders and transform themselves into the nation, consequently making a challenge to them as tantamount to challenging national interests. They then create personality cults and become omnipotent. They seem to have not only acquired monarchical tendencies, but they have also turned themselves into deities that must be worshiped and glorified.

Some of their ideas may seem to be attractive but they must be judged by whether or not they are consistent with nation’s interests. When some of them claim to speak for the nation, we must judge them by asking a series of questions: are they telling the truth? Is their focus on the nation? Are their words consistent with what is already known to be true? Do they speak the truth while directing the people towards the ‘promised land’, or do they speak persuasively while directing the people toward themselves?

There are many of our politicians who have said the right things but still led us in wrong directions. With political leadership comes responsibility. When a politician, especially one in control of government, makes a mistake, it is the nation that suffers. Many take decisions without counsel and input from the people, or after soliciting only for advice that will support their decision. Our political leaders have surrounded themselves with incompetent subordinates because they feel threatened by competent ones. They also have a penchant for taking highly educated individuals, lobotomising them, and then turning them into cheerleaders and court jesters. A good political leader, Proverbs 11:14 says, needs and uses wise counsellors.

Our political leaders usually overlook the fact that they cannot overlook the nation single-handedly. Rather than handle larger responsibilities alone, they should look for ways of sharing loads of the nation so that others may exercise their God-given gifts and abilities. Our country is increasingly becoming complex. And as our people’s needs increase, so are the conflicts and disagreements. Due to this complex reality, our leaders can no longer make decisions alone. Some of them seem to be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help.

This may be due to their arrogance that they know all or asking for advice may imply that they are bankrupt of ideas. Those who pretend to ask for advice later overlook it even when honestly given. The ancient Greek philosopher Isocrates once said that the greatest loyalty an advisor could give a leader is by being frank and candid. It is more helpful to the leader, Isocrates averred, to surround himself with those who disagree with him than it is to rely on those who mimic his point of view. Isocrates noted that: “frankness is a virtue in a counsellor who must risk the ire of the foolish enough to be offended when contradicted.

By being receptive to the idea of others and by creating an atmosphere of mutual respect a politician will help ensure the happiness and success of the people. Our politicians have yet to learn that criticism is always directed at politicians, no matter how good they are. However, what distinguishes a good politician from a bad politician is the ability to listen and take constructive criticism without spending valuable time and energy worrying about those who may oppose their leadership. A good politician must always focus attention on those who are ready and willing to help. Some criticisms are due to love for the nation and should not be misconstrued as unpatriotic, treasonable or seditious. Our politicians always place a premium of blind loyalty, as though they are royal dynasties that value their own preservation and power above all else.

It is this unquenchable thirst for fidelity that has imperilled democracy and botched development in our country. Instead of cultivating loyalty and trusting democracy, they have demanded that loyalty to public servants, party cadres and the masses be expressed to the people who determine whether or not food gets on their plates. In our country, even civil servants serve at the pleasure of a politician, the president, who has appointed them, and not the people, who pay their salaries. To get a key position in the government, one has to be the fiercest loyalist rather than the most competent and best qualified. In this country, it is better for a civil servant to be loyal and wrong than correct and disloyal.

There’s a fairly simple explanation for this obsession with loyalty: the insecurity of our politicians. The more secure they are - both intellectually and psychologically - the more they will value disagreements.

Most of our people have now been transmogrified to reflect the attitudes of those in power. Occasional wrongdoing has gradually been turned into wrongdoing as a way of life. This degeneration and decay among our people is not difficult to see. We see it every day in their attitudes, habits and conduct.

The reason for this is because our politicians have traumatised their people to the point where they are in desperate states and on self-destruct courses. By using brutal means to rule and senselessly looting the public resources, they have left our people in a state of shock and despair. In view of this reality, it comes as no shock that our people are now imitating in various ways - they are abrasive, intolerant, kleptomaniac, debauched, deceitful and contumacious. Again, the book of Proverbs says that where there is no good leadership, people will have only pain, there will also be wickedness, wicked rulers, wicked aides and wicked people. Our politicians have no compassion for those they are supposed to serve. They treat their people miserably in order to satisfy their own desires.

A real politician has a servant’s heart. Instead of abusing people, they should serve them. And they are often selfish and arrogant as the claw themselves to the top and stick there by hook or crook. And they don’t take time to consult the people on how they can best be served. How a politician interacts with the people carries a lot of weight. By getting in tune with people’s emotions, needs, obstacles and strong point, a politician can effectively mobilise the forces towards national goals. A politician who has inspiration to do good and passion for the nation will quickly discover that his ways are contagious and will quickly infect the people. We are longing for plain-spoken politicians with charisma and vision to help us create a more just, fair and humane society in our homeland. To achieve this, we will need to stop this political degeneration and decay. We can’t continue to be governed by thug-like leaders. We can’t accept intolerance, hooliganism and violence as a norm.

Labels: PAUL SAMASUMO, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, WILLIAM BANDA

posted by MrK @ 9:10 AM