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| Stephen Johnson |
In most democracies, if not all the world over, the people’s power which is often felt 4 to 6 years depending on the prescribed tenure as indicated in a country’s Magna Carta, is usually tested. This power is the power to decide whether to go ahead with the status quo or replace it with another administration they deem capable of continuing from where their predecessors left off. This vote of confidence does not come handy, you have to have demonstrated some level of leadership traits and or have the charisma to convince voters. Many a times within our country, this is a period usually referred to as the “chopping period” by voters.
It is a time that tradeoff is made between voters and politicians. It is a period where the barter system is in full effect. For many electorates, they relish this period since for them politicians can be milk. This is the period where the question “How did you come?” pops up and in order to answer it, resources have to exchange hands. Interestingly, there is no guarantee that as resources exchange hands; votes are bound to come in return. Most times, voters usually say “My vote is my secret” or they could make commitments, which are practically impossible to authenticate.
I believe the reason for this is that politicians have eluded our people with vague promises for many years ahead of elections. Once they win, they care less about those who voted for them. As a result of this pattern, electorates convinced themselves that they have to collect as much as they can whether its material or monetary gains since they won’t see these politicians until after another six (6) years. For me, I will not blame the electorates because if politicians were true to their words, people would have a different approach to electioneering. If politicians who crowd the political amphitheater were delivering the goods, would we have had a different experience? I can, without any doubt, answer in the affirmative.
I can recall back in 2005, I along with few of my colleagues had traveled to rural Liberia during the campaign period. We organized series of town hall meetings with the locals and explained to them about the importance of elections and voting. We all spoke about why they should vote for our candidate. In response, they thanked us and said we have spoken well but the ultimate question which popped us was “this come weh your come, how your come?” (We have you all brought from us now that you people are here?). While this might appear to be a simple question, it presents an idea of the understanding of our people relative to politics and especially campaigning. This question was the theme song across communities all through our trip. Where they right? Certainly they were! I am convinced that if we were pointing to projects and programs we had initiated prior to the campaign period, the fundamental questions would have been, what additional projects could we benefit from? What new program (s) can our children look forward to receiving? Moreover, what else can we hope to see?
As July draws nearer, campaign is about to start again and the “chopping” will begin. I hope we can have a radical shift from the past and begin to focus more on improving the lives of our people void of deceit and rhetoric; we should rank the people above “self empowerment”. We should formulate policies and programs that are people driven and community focused. Let us remember that as leaders, we are servants for our people and not there reverse. Lets us remember that this glorious land of liberty shall long be ours. I look forward to a time when campaign period would not be a “chopping era” but rather a time when people can do an apple-to-apple comparison of politicians and their platforms and choose those with best potential to deliver and have demonstrated that through their records of accomplishment. May God bless the works of our hands and save the state…
Your friend along the way, Stephen Johnson….
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