"tunaomba serikali" MENTALITY

Now, helping people is a noble aspiration but it is also a very vague one. When it comes to African politics, I bet one out of every two of you have heard a politician someplace saying (we are asking the government) “tunaomba serikali”, a couple of times. Well whether well intended or not, I relay this question to them, aren’t they the government that we the people voted in to change this so called misdeeds they are complaining about.

Ever wondered why the politicians we choose remain so profoundly unchanging? Ever heard of the story of the Frog and the Scorpion? The scorpion asks the frog to carry her across the river and the frog only seeing the opportunity to make a new friend agrees.  Once she gets across the river , the first thing she does is she does is sting the frog . In his dying breathe the frog asks her why, and she answers, “it is in my nature” . Now what am I trying to say, I’m simply saying that just because a candidate comes up with the most appealing campaign slogans doesn’t mean he is the best candidate. Don’t mistake this for a hasty generalisation, not all politicians are indeed like this scorpion. Some are much more like the frog and once they get across they will keep their word.

Even in the most desperate moments we have to learn to see through this mask. From past experience I have gathered that a person isn’t who they are based on the last conversation you had with them , they are who they have always been through their whole relationship. This is not to say that people do not change.  They can but if they have changed it will be possible to see this change in their whole relationship with you. With focus, we can see who this culprits are. Simply ask yourself where you want your constituency to be in five years and rate their performance against this. If there is no change in your constituency and all Mr Politician has been doing is attending rallies saying “tunaomba serikali” don’t hesitate to send him packing come the next elections.