Power belongs to the people.
Don’t keep the people hungry. Hunger begets anger!
If you feed the army or the police and not feed the people, you are in danger. A moment will come when you will be disgraced or displaced out of the position you are occupying by the people that you keep hungry and angry.
This weekend, the peaceful and unarmed people of Sri Lanka, amidst hunger which was caused by prolonged economic hardship, took over their presidential palace after months of protesting the bad leadership in their country.
As they occupied the edifice, some went straight to the presidential kitchen to cook, others to the massive bedroom, others to the winery while some others headed to the presidential swimming pool to have a splash
The Sri Lanka narrative is not in any way new to the world because mankind have had revolutions that taught incompetent rulers bitter and unforgettable lessons.
In the capitalist West, with all the modern security systems, welfarism exists in such a way that ensures that everyone has the basics of life. In other words, regardless of status in the society, nobody is left behind in a truly capitalist system. This is to avoid carnage and revolts.
Britain will soon announce its new prime minister.
The British people systematically pressed on Boris Johnson to resign. Johnson, a former London “cyclist” mayor, thought modernization would make his compatriots not to react to his initial refusal to resign over the wave of scandals that trailed him since he became the leader of his leading Conservative Party.
I give it to Johnson. He understands history. Otherwise, he would have continued dilly-dallying for long until the people’s anger boiled over and they would end up matching down to Downing Street to run him over. He simply, humbly resigned!
But how do we solve the problem of sit-tight, bad leadership that’s prevalent in Africa and Asia?
Every politician should study history to learn the (historical) consequences of not keeping their promises to the people or taking them for granted.
History has shown that greed is the “curse” bad leaders in this part of the world plague their people with.
Let us get our political systems working as efficiently as they should for the sake of our people.
That’s the only way we can avoid the wrath of the masses and the ensuing carnage.
Governance is not rocket science. Eschewing greed is very important in the quest for a leadership role.
Governance should be for those who are genuinely, passionately and adequately prepared to lead, a preparation that should include sound knowledge of the past and the present. Without that, it becomes absolutely difficult navigating the complex challenges that governance presents.
Let’s make our constituency work. Let’s make our state work. Let’s make our country work.
