Up on till recently, it is safe to say that I had almost been programmed to believe that it was normal for certain people who we considered ‘good’ and of exemplary character to distant themselves from politics. The conjecture was that politics is dirty, and that politicking is only meant for people who do not mind soiling their hands or swimming in and out of the murky waters of politics with its needless controversies and scandals. Needless to say some of them being very dishonest. I guess I should add that the spoils of politicking in Africa is stupendous since politicians can with all impunity practically steal the commonwealth of the people without recourse to anyone.
My suspicion is that this stupendous spoils may responsible for the ‘do-or-die’ manner with which most politicians in Africa have continued to conduct themselves in the corridors of power as well as the activities associated with the process itself and the act of governing the continent over the past decades.
In addition to the above conjecture, the word politics itself had historically been associated with negativity: for instance the British national anthem as published in 1745 calls on God to “Confound their politics”, and the phrase “play politics”, for example, has been in use since at least 1853, when abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared: “We do not play politics; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us.’’
Paradoxically, the core essence of politics is geared towards the development and choosing of leaders who take decisions that directly or indirectly impact on the wellbeing of the people. Therefore, politics cannot be handled with kid gloves, it is definitely unwise to continue to leave the control of this very crucial human activity in the hands of the people that we consider unscrupulous, greedy and self-serving. Furthermore, politics cuts across all facets of all human endeavour and it is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes in traditional societies, through modern local government system, corporate and other institutions, to sovereign states and internationally.
The truth of life is that, there cannot be a vacuum at all levels of leadership, so mandatorily, at every point in time, as agreed upon by different societies, leaders will always be chosen from those who are involved in politics and have put themselves forward to lead. Therefore, the right and most logical step for every society to take is to ensure that everything possible is put in place for the most qualified of its people in terms of leadership skills and acumen to get involved in politics and hence it is only from this best and most qualified group that the people are made to choose their leaders. It is by so doing that societies will be able to always get the best decisions at all times and at all levels of leadership.
I am generally an optimist, just like British actor, director and writer Peter Ustinov (1921-2004), who was quoted to have said, “I am an optimist, unrepentant and militant. After all, in order not to be a fool an optimist must know how sad a place the world can be. It is only a pessimist who finds this out a new every day. Therefore, my belief that Africa is blessed with everything and everybody that she needs to occupy a pride of place in the global polity is unwavering. What we need to do now in Africa is to get everybody on board, we cannot afford to be despondent or ‘chicken out’, from undertaking the task of leading Africa into occupying her rightful place in facets of life globally.
On the cover page of this edition we are featuring Macky Sall, whom we consider a symbol of Senegal’s political maturity and stability. We are also featuring the 25th year remembrance of the Rwandan Genocide and its aftermath. We have said over and over again, and will continue to clearly state the fact that the IWA team appreciates our esteemed readers spread across the globe and for this reason, we will always serve the very best from our stable in each edition. Believe me, this edition is loaded as usual, I wish you a very pleasurable reading experience.