A GOVERNMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS

Attending training on leadership, I was taught that there are different styles of leadership. All have positives and negatives. So whatever style of leadership that one has to engage in is determined by the task at hand, the people involved and of course the timeframe. Two kinds of leadership stood out for me.

There is the buffalo kind of leadership where the leader knows everything and listens to no one. His word is the law. The other kind was what was called ‘the flight of the dominoes’. This is the leadership where everyone is important and everyone is listened to and consulted. Everyone is given a chance. As pointed out, all the forms of leadership have pros and cons and should be used where there is a need and should bring about the most gains.

However, I’m worried that government is using the buffalo style of leadership where only the people in leadership know what is best for the people of the country. The people who are led are never consulted and their views are never considered. Some people will mention representation in Parliament as a way of people’s views being considered. I will agree that in an ideal situation that is what should be the case. But the question that comes to mind is whether in real life that is the case?

Do Members of Parliament always consult their constituencies before decisions are taken in government? Do parliamentarians have the capacity to engage with their constituencies before they go to decide in Parliament? Are parliamentarians listened to before a decision is taken by government or they are also ignored and in essence the people’s views ignored?

We are awaiting the opening of Parliament and the delivery of the budget soon. Are people of the country consulted before the budget is formulated or their views are thought not to be important? Who knows what are the needs of the people to influence and shape the budget accordingly?

Are parliamentarians consulted on the budget before it is delivered in Parliament? If they are why then did they decide to reject it last year? If they are consulted, what is the need to have it debated in Parliament because what is delivered is what they have already agreed to?

Looking back, I am of the opinion that all the answers to the questions are to the negative. What worries me even more is that parliamentarians are then bullied by a certain clique and they keep their peace and the views of the masses in the country are ignored. Only the views of a few individuals prevail.

Despite the fact that the views of the few individuals have time and again failed, they are still there implementing the failed views. A buffalo leader always decides what is good for the group even if the strategy he is employing is failing.

State institutions are always used to force the views of the few on the masses. What am I saying here? The prime minister and his few companions decide on the budget. Then they allow a number of students to be admitted at tertiary institutions knowing very well that there is no money to pay for their tuition.

The next thing the students will want to cash on the promissory notes that government has given them and they are then told there are no funds. The next thing we know is that government will be using security forces to suppress the students from demanding that government do good on the promissory notes.

This is more waste on the little there is on something that could have been prevented. If government was transparent in its budgeting and expenditure, who is going to blame it when it says there is no money to give students or for whatever service? No one would blame it because we would all know the truth.

I was little surprised that we are rated among the worst when it comes to the way we budget. We will never rate high because only a few people do the budget and then force it on the people. We have a precedent of a Parliament that rejected a budget but it was then arm-twisted by a few to approve the budget. What are the results of that exercise now?

Students are demanding the promise and institutions are closed. The leading buffalo makes all the decisions and the others have to follow. How I wish one day we would have a leader who employs the flight of the dominoes style of leadership; where people of the country would be consulted before major decisions are taken.

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