Page 60 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 20

Leadership

seats with pride and proceed to ig- In fact, perhaps this time you can happening to you in your country
nore each one of us, day in and day consider squeezing my skull instead. that you are paying for this through
out, year in and year out and then, That might be more appropriate, your taxes? You are literally paying
after 4 or 5 years, come back to us since I did not suffer sufficiently to be tortured and tormented. That
in pretended humility to ‘ask’ for the last time you oppressed me.” To is a very weird relationship with
our vote again? They don’t care. The keep doing that says a lot about the your employee.
proof is there. And as we scatter be- value the electorate does not place It does not matter if they are the
fore their armed escorts and blaring on itself, perhaps because they do president, a member of parliament
sirens, only a few of them actually not understand that they do have or a cabinet secretary… they are
do the work that they promised they great value. Is it ignorance? Yes, if there to serve your interests, not
would do. Others attempt a small you have an employee who is not their own. It is public service they
portion of it, because after all they doing their job, why will you keep are signing up for. Stop letting
have to demonstrate that they made paying them? They go out and steal, them get away with being mean to
some kind of effort for them to be kill people, destroy your children’s you, stealing from you, or derelic-
able to get voted in again and con- future by mortgaging the country to tion of duty. Stop letting them get
tinue their reign of laxity. Is that not lenders, poison you through food away with being dishonorable and
so? The rest are too busy traveling and water, allow thieves into your disrespectful towards you. Stop it.
to foreign lands for ‘benchmarking country and you keep on paying They owe you a high standard of
tours’ or sneaking off to hotels them for what they have done? In- service. Make sure you get it. If they
to have sordid sexual trysts with stead of firing them using approved are not performing, summon them
other people’s wives and husbands mechanisms? That is ignorance of and demand improvements. If they
because in their books, that’s how your authority as an employer. That fail you, fire them and replace them.
they ought to behave. It is sick and is ignorance of how your laws work. That’s it.
sickening what we allow them to get That is ignorance of the purpose of
away with. your employee and their responsibil- Politicians and governments count
ity to you. And all of that represents on you being predictable and stupid
Instead of invoking any existing a generational problem if we allow it so that they do not have to exert
provisions in the constitution that to continue. themselves, they do not have to do
allow for them to forcibly eject these anything outside of the template
so-called leaders from their seats, These people owe you acceptable that you have become accustomed
prior to their terms ending, the elec- quality work that enables you to to. It has become no big thing
torate just take the nonsense lying focus on what you love to do. That for them to climb up on a stage,
down, choose to wait out the 4- or is what a representative is meant to produce a few silly dance moves to
5-year cycle and then make another do for you. To act on your behalf make you think, “Oh he or she is
badly informed and ill-advised selec- while you manage other matters. just like one of us!!! That’s so nice!
tion who also treats them as if they They do not owe you bullying That must mean they really under-
are worthless. Others return their tactics, strangulating costs of living, stand us.” Because they know that
oppressors to office for another 4 or manipulative and coercive treatment once they have you laughing at their
5 years. This means that entire de- and murderous police officers who ‘human-ness’ then they can con you
cades – DECADES – are LOST as work against your safety instead of again into believing their lies. But
Afrikans choose to repeat the errors for it. They do not owe you closed you cannot be like that again.
of the past and retain the men and contracts with external entities For those who attend rallies and re-
women who have proven unable, that imprison you and put you in ceive the small items that are dished
unwilling, or both, to do what is a position where you cannot freely out such as t-shirts, baseball caps,
needed in ensuring the welfare of exchange seeds or use seeds the way $5 dollar handouts or bags of flour,
their nations is defended and their you are accustomed to or are forced rice or sugar please understand that
futures built up accordingly. to use and pay for medication that these items are not given to you
Is this self-hate or ignorance? I you do not need and that could kill out of great love for you. It is an
believe it is a mixture of both, you. They do not owe you awful attempt to purchase you. Those are
really. To keep going back to the contracts with organizations that re- the same tricks the colonizers played
boot that steps on your neck and sult in debt repayments that trap you on village chiefs. You must remem-
saying, “Oh, sorry, please you did and your children for decades. Do ber that you are worth more than a
not yet crush this part of my neck. you realize that if these things are piece of cloth or a grain of flour or

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