I came across these eleven principles you should understand about politics before you stress yourself in one of the whatsapp groups I belong to, and I found them very interesting.
What I would like to contribute to this knowledge is breaking them down and explicating them the way I understand.
They resonate immensely with my article for last and my general take of what is obtaining in our political circles.
Let me start by observing that almost all the relationships I know are regulated by law, the world over.
This is found even in the family as an institution where the relationship between the spouses is regulated by law.
The relationship between parents and their children has the intervention of the law. I know also that the employer and employee relationship is a labour issue and thoroughly regulated.
What I have not seen though is some law around political parties and their supporters. I might be wrong, and I stand to be corrected but I have not seen any public and serious law around this relationship.
I have seen supporters just being exploited by ambitious political leaders for nothing. This is concerning and I think as we grow as a democracy this needs to be fixed because it leaves citizens exposed.
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In 2018 we had supporters getting shot and I am not sure if their relaves, their kids and spouses ever got anything out of it.
It is possible that they have not been taken care of even if those who died were bread winners in the family.
So, the law I am looking for here is something along the lines of survivors of such political violence getting compensated by the party they belong to and the leadership that leads them.
Someone must take responsibility and we need the law to achieve that.
We could also have the holding government responsible and placing a charge against it in that regard because they are in charge of the police force that kills citizens.
Having said that, please allow me to then breakdown these eleven political observations.
Nobody has your interests
Well, this in not to say there never is and there never was any serious leaders ever but I think Zimbabwe is a good example of this.
Supporters run for their leaders after speeches are made that promise heaven on earth, but what we see after the elections is a direct opposite because the ordinary person goes home while the leaders go to office.
Everybody is chasing their own interests.
Clearly yes. I must repeat that there are selfless leaders out there who would come, yes with their interests but combined with the peoples’ interests. Zimbabwe is not doing well in the interests of the people because we are so partisan and after elections many are ignored as politicians enjoy the spoils.
Dealing with politicians is like sleeping with tigers, you must always have your eyes wide open.
Very true. A supporter must check thoroughly if their interests and the interests of their neighbour are part of the run. Eyes wide open and questions being asked.
In any political equation there is always someone being used and if you cannot find one, then it’s you
Funny but very true. You have people working hard for ambitious politicians but gaining nothing. They are used and do not know it. If the war veterans had not stood up for their compensation, they would spend their lives in the bush fighting for the liberation of a few politicians. They said no, and it worked for them. Are you being used?
Serving politicians is like being a bandage on a wound. once the wound is healed your usefulness ends. politicians do not recognise and reward value but recognise their own needs and you are only as useful as the lifesapan of their need for you
If we all got this as Zimbabweans, we would create a better space for real leadership to emerge because we would know what we want, and real leaders would emerge with a true sense of prudence and build not just for individuals but also for the collective being and posterity.
In politics never moorn or wail more than the bereaved. they will get the reward while you inherit their enemies.
Politicians talk to each other even after the storm but supporters who would have killed for their leaders remain sworn enemies.
In politics, in any event that other interests conflict with your own interests and you have to choose, always choose yours
Unless of course your sense some martyrdom in you and you want to die for the politicians. If you die having been aware you are dying for the selfish politician then, well that is your choice. Good luck.
Never cross oceans for politicians, you will drown and the best they will do is give a benevolent speech at your burial, lie to your widow and children and eat your food. politicians will never cross the streets for their foot soldiers
They are careful about what they do and are risk conscious and thoroughly so. That is why in Zimbabwe you will have a politician including that of the opposition walking around with bodyguards while everyone else walks exposed with that regalia telling everyone which party they support. This is what prophets also do about bodyguards.
Do not kill yourself for their ambition or put your life at risk for any politician
You have other people to look after, and those politicians will not take over that responsibility should you die.
They cannot fill that void when you are dead and gone and you are left parentless.
Above all, family and health are things you should never use to attack a man, because politics is never that serious
Just like in football where players are known to each other and talk to each other most of the time, politicians laugh together, after all. Just do not overcompensate because they do not.
Lastly to all the youth, it’s took risky to sacrifice your career, health, personal character, social capital, and integrity in pursuit of short term and temporary rewards offered by politicians
This hits hard. You have a life to live as a citizens and a lot of other things to focus on. Please do exactly that because politicians in Zimbabwe think about themselves.
This is a very interesting read I think, and I wish it could reach many who might be panting for breath right now because they just want to see their candidate win and so they run.
Citizens must re-think their identity and the role they play in politics and stop being used. They are, first and foremost, citizens who should demand sense from the politics of our time.
*Bhekilizwe Bernard Ndlovu’s training is in human resources training, development and transformation, behavioural change, applied drama, personal mastery, and mental fitness. He works for a Zimbabwean company as human capital executive, while also doing a PhD with Wits University where he looks at violent strikes in the South African workplace as a researcher. Ndlovu worked as a human resources manager for several blue-chip companies in Zimbabwe and still takes keen interest in the affairs of people and performance management. He can be contacted on [email protected]
