Maravi

Uplifting the people's lives

Uplifting the people's lives
By The Post
Tue 30 Oct. 2012, 13:40 CAT

Obvious Mwaliteta, the Western Province Minister, says leaders elected by the people should always remember that they are who they are because of voters. Who can disagree with this?

Those in leadership positions, political or otherwise, must have faith in the masses. This is a cardinal principle. If they doubt this principle, they will accomplish nothing.

Leaders must rely on the masses of the people, on everybody playing a role. Experience tells us that the right task, policy and style of work invariably conform to the demands of the masses at a given time and place and invariably strengthen the leaders' ties with the masses, and the wrong task, policy and style of work invariably disagree with the demands of the masses at a given time and place and invariably alienate the leaders from the masses.

To link oneself with the masses, one must act in accordance with the needs and wishes of the masses. All work done for the masses must start from their needs and not from the desire of any individual, however well-intentioned.

This should teach every leader to love the people and listen attentively to the voice of the masses; to identify himself or herself with the masses wherever he or she goes and, instead of standing above them, to immerse himself or herself among them; and, according to their present level, to awaken them or raise their political consciousness and help them gradually to organise themselves voluntarily and to set going all essential struggles permitted by the circumstances of the given time and place.

If they insisted on leading the masses to do anything against their will, they will certainly fail. If they do not advance when the masses demand to advance, they will be left behind.

And our leaders should not assume that everything they themselves understand is understood by the masses. Whether the masses understand it and are ready to take action can be discovered only by going into their midst and making investigations.

Our leaders must not assume that the masses have no understanding of what they themselves do not understand. It often happens that the masses outstrip them and are eager to advance a step and that nevertheless our leaders fail to act as leaders of the masses and tail behind certain backward elements, reflecting their views and, moreover, mistaking them for those of the broad masses.
Take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then go to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through, so as to form correct ideas of leadership - such is the basic method of leadership.

Our politicians, especially those in government, should not forget that political work is the lifeblood of all economic work. This is particularly true at a time when the social and economic system is undergoing fundamental change. Money is an important factor in all this work, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of political strength, but also a contest of human and moral strength because all these things are wielded by people. What really counts in the world is conscientiousness.

We hail from all corners of the country and have joined together for a common revolutionary objective. Our political leaders must show concern for every citizen, and all our people must be made to care for each other, love and help each other.

Leaders at all levels have a duty to listen to others. They should be modest and prudent, guard against arrogance and rashness, and serve the Zambian people heart and soul. Their point of departure is to serve the people wholeheartedly and never for a moment divorce themselves from the masses, to proceed in all cases from the interests of the people and not from one's self-interest or from the interests of a small group.

Our leaders need to embrace the spirit of absolute selflessness that Obvious is talking about. With this spirit, every one of them can be very useful to the people. A leader's ability may be great or small, but if he or she has this spirit, he or she is already noble-minded and pure, a leader of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a leader who is of value to the people.
All our leaders, whatever their rank, are supposed to be servants of the people, and whatever they do is supposed to serve the people.

Their duty should be to hold themselves responsible to the people. Every word, every act and every policy of theirs must conform to the people's interests, and if mistakes occur, they must be corrected - that is what being responsible to the people means. Leaders should always have the interests of the people and the sufferings of the great majority at heart.
Every leader must be helped to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work.

Leaders should have largeness of mind and should be staunch and active, looking upon the interests of the nation as their very lives and subordinating their personal interests to those of the people. They should be more concerned about the masses than about any individual, and more concerned about others than about themselves. Only thus can they be considered to be good leaders. Every leader must be brought to understand that the supreme test of the words and deeds of a leader is whether they conform with the highest interests and enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of the people.

At no time and in no circumstances should a leader place his or her personal interests first; he or she should subordinate them to the interests of the nation and the masses. Hence, selfishness, slacking, corruption, seeking the limelight, and so on and so forth, are most contemptible, while selflessness, working with all one's energy, wholehearted devotion to public duty, and quiet hard work will command respect.

Leaders must be ready at all times to stand up for the truth, because truth is in the interest of the people; leaders must be ready at all times to correct their mistakes, because mistakes are against the interests of the people.
Leaders must always go into the whys and wherefores of anything, use their own heads and carefully think over whether or not it corresponds to reality and is really well founded; on no account should they follow blindly and encourage slavishness.

We should encourage our leaders to take the interests of the whole into account. Leaders should set an example in being practical as well as far-sighted. For only by being practical can they fulfil the appointed tasks, and only far-sightedness can prevent them from losing their bearings in the march forward. Leaders should be the most far-sighted, the most sacrificing, the most resolute, and the least prejudiced in sizing up situations and should rely on the majority of the masses and win their support.

A leader must never be opinionated or domineering, thinking that he or she is good in everything while others are good in nothing; he or she must never shut oneself up in his or her little room, or brag and boast and lord it over others. They must learn to listen attentively to the views of people outside their leadership circles and even their own political party and let them have their say. If what they say is right, they ought to welcome it, and they should learn from their strong points; if it is wrong, they should let them finish what they are saying and then patiently explain things to them.

And the leadership of the Patriotic Front should pay a lot of attention to what Obvious is saying, especially when he says that the party would leave a legacy of transparency, accountability, hard work, patriotism and commitment towards uplifting the people's lives. This is a very strong and important statement and every word in this statement - transparency, accountability, hard work, patriotism, commitment - matters a lot. If this spirit is embraced, a lot will be achieved in uplifting the people's lives.

Labels: OBVIOUS MWALITETA

posted by MrK @ 6:40 PM