Politics is power

everywhere, whether in buses, beerhalls or at sports clubs.
What then is politics?

Political scientists define politics as an art or a science of activities concerned with seeking power, status, and influence through scheming to get an upper hand over others.

But what many people do not understand is that violence in achieving power is not politics, it is dictatorship, which is seeking power and influence by force, not through the will of the governed.
The call for a violence-free election is to let politics of persuasion be paramount.

This brings me to the central theme of what this election is all about.
Those that are seeking power must do so in an environment which allows free debate on issues that are central to the people.

I do not think the electorate is looking to be told what any politician can do for the people but what environment can be created for them to achieve their aspirations in life and for their children’s future.
Of course, to achieve all these goals, we need a secure and an independent country.

In short, we should feel we are, as a country, in control of our destiny.
What is sad is what is happening in our capital city, and maybe, in other cities across the country, where residents feel powerless and accept the worst service delivery despite the hard-earned money they contribute for the running of the cities and towns.

This becomes the worst form of politics where seeking power becomes a meaningless exercise.
What is the problem?
Why do the residents accept this state of affairs?

Now, with the advent of a new Constitution which is likely to be approved this month and the subsequent general elections to follow, the residents have every right to claim, through politics, the power to address and solve all the problems to do with their lives.

Unless the people can take charge of their lives at local level, it is impossible to aim to do it at national level.

Politics begins at local level and then to the national level.
Even political parties that are weak at branch and district levels will not succeed at national level.
The influence being sought by politicians among us must be tested at local level, to address the concerns of the people and to assist them to fend for themselves and to instil in them a life to achieve their goals in peace.

We have seen the bad side of politics in our everyday lives where politicians pay lip service to the concerns of the people.
There are perennial problems that defy any solution.
The first to come to mind is the lack of clean water.

Even the water from boreholes has been known to be contaminated.
In the cities waste management is atrocious, dilapidated infrastructure is an eyesore to the residents.
There is no political will to redress these problems. Politics becomes an endless game without any meaning to the residents. For how long should this situation be tolerated?

The next election shall provide the answer to arrest the way that we have been accustomed to, that of being helpless in a sea of adversity.

Are there no capable people among us who can be entrusted with the power to redress the inaction especially in the cities and towns?

Are there no men and women of integrity who are willing to sacrifice their time to make a difference to service delivery especially in the cities and towns? It is known that the most articulate individuals in society may be found in the cities and towns.

It is also known that 25 percent of the population is more progressive to lift the lives of the people in each nation.

In Africa, this 25 percent has become very passive in pursuing politics and to seek influence to better the lives of the people.

This selfishness by this class of people has contributed to the stagnation of Africa’s economic and political development.

Hence, there are many wars where children are being enlisted into armies to plunder and make the countries difficult to govern.

The time is at hand for professionals and business people to play their roles in politics.
It is no longer acceptable to remain armchair critics while everything around us is deteriorating.

It is with this in mind that primary elections in each political party must be open to all those members aspiring to be candidates at local and national level of the political establishment.

Primary elections should become the acid test for the forthcoming general elections.
If these primary elections are held in a peaceful environment, then the people will have confidence in the democratic processes of the political system.

A political system that attracts the best brains in a country’s population will lead to better governance and economic progress.

But the culture of harnessing the best talents in the country should extend to those who play a major role in the running of a modern and technological state.

If our politics can be used as a vehicle, not only to achieve power but to influence the direction of developing a viable state of which we are proud of, then we will stand tall in the comity of nations.