What KIND of political leader will you elect?

 

Do you ever wonder why so many popularly elected leaders turn out to be an outstanding disappointment during their parliamentary term? Many serve their time in the august house without contributing to any meaningful debate, leave alone speaking about the issues that concern their people. These leaders represent a wasted five years of your political life pursuing interests that have left you stunted and scandalized. But, perhaps the problem is you, rather than them. You may have elected whom you wanted, but did you get what you wanted? Before you renew your political vows with your parliamentary representative for tribal, filial or other non-sense reasons, it may be useful to reflect on whether your proposed political representative or governor has the capacity to fulfill your expectations.

The answer to the above distress is self-evident. Politics is not popularity. Popularity can be used to herd cows out of town or attract people to a social gathering. It is next to useless when it comes to skills required to make good laws or introducing and implementing policy that makes the people’s lives better. Before we describe the kind of political leader you may be looking for we need to appreciate that politics is not leadership and leadership is not politics. Politics is a discipline like football, engineering or military science. Each of these disciplines needs effective leadership to succeed in their respective endeavors. While all leaders draw from a general pool of leadership theory, military leaders must have an understanding of the chain of command, security and the art of war. Political leaders must have a minimum understanding of representation, governance and the rule of law.

Human resource experts tell us that in order to identify a suitable person for a job, you need to examine the job to understand its demands and dimensions before looking for the kind of person to match its tasks. Successful leaders not only have the will to succeed, but also have the skills necessary to succeed in following through with the requirements of political office. For example, the skill of debate is essential. If you cannot debate, your points will not cross the floor of the house. However, to debate is not shouting, it is crafting and articulating a logical argument with an astute amount of emotional intelligence to convincingly communicate your core message on the collective way forward. There are two sets of skills a political leader needs - politics and governance.

A political leader clearly articulates and interprets the national dream. Political leaders are charged with moving the nation from one level of glory to the next. They must therefore be familiar with the nations aspirations and articulate the dreams and wishes of the people in that context. This calls for an aptitude for public service and stewardship of resources. Being a political leader is not a job in a private company where the benefits are paid to the individual. In public service, the benefits must pass on to the electorate. The astute political leader must understand the principles of representation. The politician carries forward the aspirations of the people and presents them in the august house for resolution on behalf of the people. Like an ambassador who holds brief on behalf of his home government, the politician is accountable to the electorate who will judge his performance based on their expectations.   

Governance requires a thorough understanding and continuous development of technical competencies to manage the execution of the political process. Examples can be drawn from governors who have achieved above average value for their constituents. In all cases these governors have a superior competence and understanding of the process of governance, policy design, law making and community empowerment. These governors are well versed in the mechanics of wealth creation, resources management, economics and the rule of law. Politicians find it a popular gimmick to tell a crowd that they will reduce taxes. But the governors tell the people what they will do with the money they take from the public. Government cannot run without tax. Good governors understand finances and develop sound economic plans to utilize resources for the benefit of the people. Clearly governors require an ethical personality, have a heavy public calling on their lives and need to be not just astute leaders, but readers of documents, interpreters and implementers of policy as custodians of national strategy and the peoples dreams. If you want effective representation, then political skills may suffice for your choice of a leader. However, if you want to see a change in your circumstance and environment, then look for a leader who understands governance.

 

Allan Bukusi is an adjunct lecturer teaching leadership at Ashesi University, Ghana