Maravi

Michael has what is most needed in a leader

Michael has what is most needed in a leader
By The Post
Mon 09 Jan. 2012, 14:00 CAT

ALMOST three years ago, on January 11, 2009, we carried a story where Michael Sata, then opposition leader of the Patriotic Front, said selfless leadership was the only path through which Zambia would attain the necessary prosperity.

We agreed with Michael in our editorial comment published on the same day. We also agreed with him when he said that Zambia would not go anywhere without transforming its politics by imparting attributes of servant leadership.

Michael also said Dr Kenneth Kaunda developed this country to where it is today because of selflessness, servant leadership. Michael has now been elected President of our country; he is today the leader of our country. We know that Michael is a very kind and selfless human being.

And Michael has demonstrated in the few months he has spent in government that he is, indeed, not only a selfless human being, but also a selfless leader, president of our Republic. We have not forgotten how Michael, during a visit to Livingstone, refused to get on his official vehicle but instead opted to use a minibus that ordinary Zambians use.

This is just one of the many examples we can give to justify our belief that Michael can truly be a selfless leader, a servant of the people if he continues to be himself, if power does not get to his head and change him, deform him, corrupt him.

Today, ministers in government are being advised to emulate Michael and avoid living lavishly if more money is to permeate into the pockets of many poor Zambians.

James Mapoma, the former special assistant for economic affairs to Dr Kaunda when he was president of the Republic, says "nothing will change in Zambia if government leaders will not avoid the mistake that former leaders have made in the past government…Ministers should emulate President Sata's principle and avoid living luxurious lives to ensure that the PF government makes a difference in the lives of the majority poor people…Nothing can change once the principle of service and selfless leadership at the top has not been taken seriously.

That is why if you live a lavish life as president, your ministers will say ‘kuti washalapofye' (you can remain behind) and start stealing government resources…" We agree with Mapoma on this score, he is right. Selflessness among our leaders is of utmost importance.

As we have stated before, no one should be in public office in our country because of the remuneration that goes with it; because of ambition or pleasure. They should only take up public office to fulfil a duty. All of them should be in the same position and attitude of sacrifice. All of them should have the same willingness to work for the people. All of them should be joined in a single purpose, which is to serve our people as their servants.

We think that our politicians should never draw away from the honest political goals they should be seeking and let themselves be influenced by money or perks.

Our politicians should be modest and prudent and serve the Zambian people heart and soul; and never divorce themselves from the masses. They should proceed in all cases from the interests of the people and not from their self-interest.

Selfless leaders make their people's hardships and sufferings their own; selfless leaders shift their awareness to the needs of others and not their own desires. A good, selfless leader should serve and have a passion for the led.

All our politicians are supposed to be servants of the people and whatever they do is supposed to be in the service of the people. Their duty is supposed to be to hold themselves responsible to the people. Every word, every act and every policy of theirs should conform to the people's interest. They should have the interest of the people and the sufferings of the great majority at heart.

A servant leader, therefore, is one who serves the people he or she leads, which implies that the people are an end in themselves rather than the means for one's desires.

The people's servants devote themselves to serving the needs of society, focus on meeting the needs of those they lead. The strength of this way of looking at leadership is that it forces our politicians away from self-serving, domineering leadership and makes them think harder about how to respect, value and motivate people they lead. A selfless leader is willing to risk his or her own fate in order to do what is right. This is real leadership.

A true leader, a good leader should have largeness of mind and should be staunch and active, looking upon the interests of the people as his very life and subordinating his personal interest to those of the people. And he should be more concerned about the people than about any individual, and more concerned about others than about himself. Only thus can he be considered a true leader, a good leader.

Every politician must be brought to understand that the supreme test of the words and deeds of a leader is whether they conform to the highest interest of the overwhelming majority of the people. At no time and to no circumstances should he place his personal interests first; he should subordinate them in the interest of the nation and the masses of our people.

Hence, selfishness, slacking, corruption and so on and so forth are most contemptible, while selflessness, working with all one's energy, whole-hearted devotion to public duty, quiet hard work should command respect.

Most great leaders have demonstrated some degree of selflessness. Leadership is, after all, dependent on one's ability to gain followers, so leaders must give others a reason to follow them.

Most of our people want to follow someone in whom they believe. They want to be part of something worthwhile and meaningful, so they follow leaders who are working for something important. But how can politicians learn to be selfless, to be servants of the people? Being a good, selfless leader requires a great deal of work and personal sacrifice.

True and serious political leaders must be ready at all times to stand up for the truth because truth is in the interest of the people. They should set an example in being honest, selfless, practical as well as far-sighted.

For only in being so can they fulfill their duty to our people. They must be the most self-sacrificing, the most resolute and the least prejudiced in sizing up to situations, and should rely on the majority of our masses and win their support. The exemplary role of political leaders is of vital importance.

Michael possesses the most important quality required of a person who should lead others - love for the others, selflessness, and willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others. Michael is not a person who is tortured by lack of money, by a desire to be rich or to be seen as the richest man in the country. Like KK, Michael is not tortured by material possessions, or the lack of them. Michael is not embarrassed by not having money and does not pretend to have money that he doesn't have.

Probably, it is this quality which made Michael and the PF win the last elections without money, without a budget. What was important for Michael was the people and their wishes or feelings, their plight.

Rupiah Banda had all the money, but no people. Why? Hakainde Hichilema postured as being very rich, but had no people. Why? And they both lost to Michael.

This should be a great lesson for all our politicians and for all our people - people will always be more important than money.

Labels: LEADERSHIP, MICHAEL SATA, PF

posted by MrK @ 4:18 PM