Hero or Villain

Listening to Mr.Robert Mugabe a.k.a Uncle Bob, speak at the 64th UN General Assembly meeting in New York, one wonders what makes this octogenarian war veteran tick. The guy has been in power since Zimbabwe gained its independence from its erstwhile colonial master, the British in 1980; and still appears prepared to lead this country until perhaps God denies him oxygen. According to him or at least the rumors going round, Mugabe doesn't trust anyone to take the reigns of power from him since he considers all and sundry either incompetent, disloyal or too westernized to take over leadership in a country he has fought so hard to extricate it from the western influence. While to some people Mugabe appears like a power hungry authoritarian dictator, there are quite a number of Africans who perceive him as a freedom fighter not just for the liberation of Zimbabwe, but the whole Africa at large. He cuts the image of a war veteran ready to put his life on the line for the sake of his people. This might explain why despite repeated calls by the western powers to the SADC and AU to impose sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies, many are reluctant to the idea. Some say this is born out of the fact that while Mugabe's style of ruling appears dictatorial and ruthless, he is not alone in this trade. Many African countries are led by either mild dictators or western stooges placed in power in organised coupe de tats to protect the western interest. People like Museveni, the late Omar Bongo, Meles Zenawi and Hosni Mubarak to mention but a few, are no saints. The only different is that, they either have natural resources like oil or represent greater military interest for the west in their crusade of countering global terrorism cells.

One thing is clear though, Uncle Bob has remained unwavering, resolute and focused on his believes and thats why he is paying a huge political prize in the form of sanctions and isolation by the west. The question that begs is this, does one have to dance to the wests' music to be considered a good leader? Is the concept of democracy rigid and universal the world over or does each country define its own as it grows and evolve slowly? I leave the verdict to you!

Impunity somewhere is impunity everywhere!

Why is it that it’s only in Africa where the head of state blatantly flaunt the set rule of laws governing the country and still expect the subjects to abide by the same set of laws. Why do we have different rules for the haves and a totally different set for the have-nots with the latter always paying the bigger price. Most parliaments in Africa have been reduced to mere rubber stamps and act at the whims of the executive with the hope of one day being rewarded for "loyalty" and sycophancy. The last time i checked, there is no single leader in history who ruled forever. Even uncle Bob who currently holds the title of being the longest serving head of state in Africa, will at some point bow out. There is no way democracy can thrive in an atmosphere of impunity and a system riddled with corruption. The state of India did not gain the fame of being the largest democracy on earth by merely holding elections. There is no single leader there who can rest on his/her laurels thinking that being the CEO of a country is an end in itself.
What we in Africa need in a total overhaul of our entire socio-political system and the empowerment of the poor who are mostly vulnerable and easily preyed upon by the rich politicians since they are perfectly aware that a poor man thinks with his stomach. If people get more informed, it goes without saying that, they'll be empowered to make wise decisions and most importantly, to raise their demands higher. They'll also actively engage in key debates touching on their livelihoods wile acting as public watchdogs against their "mis-leaders" who are bent on squeezing all the nations’ resources to themselves and their cronies.
The buck has to stop somewhere, and if the current crop of leaders cannot wake early enough and smell the proverbial coffee, somebody better wake them really fast!

You better earn it!!!

I take great exception to the notion that has been peddled around to the effect that, if you come from a family where your father or relatives once occupied a leadership post, you automatically take after them in all sense of the word. There is no concrete biological prove that leadership is a trait that can easily be passed on. While there are instances where a son/daughter could inherit their fathers/family empire and manage it skillfully and successfully, when it comes to leadership, and more so political leadership, one has to display attributes beyond biological ties. Great leaders of the world emerged from nowhere as it were and had to rise up from scratch despite the prevailing circumstances and in most cases without the help from their relatives. Talk of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi among many others. All these folks have one thing in common. They had a passion in whatever they believed in and they pursued it with gusto with the commitment of a monk. This did not come cheaply. Most of these people paid huge costs for their believes. Luther King was assassinated while Mandela was imprisoned in Robben Island for many years because of their believes.
What am trying to say here is that, to become a leader, one has to be prepared to pay the price. Am not saying here that one has to be imprisoned or God forbid, assassinated. What am simply trying to put across is there is a price tag attached to everything. There are no silver platters here. You have to understand not just the price, but most importantly the cost to be incurred.
You have to earn it!

The urgency of now!

Many young people have been hoodwinked by their leaders or mis-leaders for that matter, since time immemorial into believing that theirs is a promised future leadership and as such they have to wait for some "future day" for them to offer leadership. I take great exception to that and consider it an insult for several simple reasons:
First and foremost, we are living now and not in the future, and therefore our relevance and contribution in our societies are needed now more than ever and not tomorrow or some unknown future. Talk of globalization, climate change and terrorism among others. These are issues at the core of young people's lives and any wise government out there still in slumber better wake up and smell the coffee. We can only hope for a better future but in the interim, we should be building our present.

Secondly, there is a notion that has gained currency in our society and being peddled by our octogenarian folks who have refused to let go of the reigns of power that we are not ready just yet. They have brainwashed young folks into believing that they are wet behind their ears and incompetent to boot for them to take charge of their present life. There is no aorta of truth to that hogwash and any young man and woman out there should know that they are even more capable of driving the development agenda anywhere as long as they are educated, responsible and energetic considering that they form the greatest majority in any society. Furthermore, we are currently talking of issues ranging from globalization to one common market system which has been made possible thanks to the recent advanced developments in the internet technology. These are issues affecting young people directly and almost exclusively considering that they form a bulk of the consumers and key players in these technological developments and innovations. Many of these oldies are completely averse to the benefits of computer technology and would rather maintain the status-quo manifested through the paper work which has been known to breed graft due to its rigidity and red tape nature.

Thirdly, the many ills that have afflicted the cosmos in the 21st century have hit young people the hardest. From the impacts of HIV/AIDS, hunger and wars to the global economic crunch. All these have jeopardized the future of many young people by eating into their savings while rendering many unemployed. Indeed their futures look bleaker now than any other time in history!
With these and many more in mind, we cannot afford to loose our present successes now for a rosy future that has been promised. In Kenya, the government is talking about Vision 2030. As much as this sounds as a noble and loadable idea, its intentions look suspicious at face value. A critical evaluation of it would discover that, this is just one of those many delaying tactics employed by desperate governments to appear to be in control while in reality what they are doing is synonymous to lifting the dangled carrot a notch high to those who are desperately in dire need of it and sadly these are the youth. If they (Government(s)) were serious about the welfare of the young folks, they would have come up with pragmatic workable plans that don't exceed five years. That way we can evaluate them on time and take the necessary measures in areas where accountability is lacking.
We need short and measurable goals not grand plans which are projected into some unlikely future.
We need to be responsibly young people in order to take charge of our destiny.
We need to work on this with the urgency of now.

Integrity 101

Whoever said honesty is the best policy wasn't far from the truth. Honesty and integrity ,more so the latter, are two words that have been bandied around with abandon without as much as giving them a second thought. One cannot be one and not the other. The two words are so intertwined to the extent that they are now almost synonymous.
If you are honest you have integrity, and conversely if you have integrity you are expected to be honest by all standards. The key challenge lies in possessing the two attributes without sacrificing one at the altar of the other.
It’s never too late to be honest and thus have integrity!
It all starts with small habits, small opportunities and small gains.
YES YOU CAN!
Cheers!