Other people’s lives always seem better

OTHER people’s lives always seem better than our own, at least on the outset. More so when one is faced with unpleasant circumstances, the human psyche isn’t known for accommodating predicaments with alacrity. Thus it is commonplace to see people who seemingly have it far better than other wishing to trade places with the less fortunate.

Picture this; an office manager may wish to be the office messenger just because he or she has slight altercations with their bosses on regular bases. And when they see the messenger, happy as ever at all times, they can’t help but wonder how he does that. 

The one thing they are not aware of is the fact that the messenger has a truckload of problems of his own but he simply never shows them. In the face of trials and tribulations, we become the most vulnerable of species.

Yet most of our problems are self induced. That may also explain why we are quick to wish to be in the place of others when faeces hit the fan. Again, that’s why we are also very quick to shift the blame, wherever it may suit, after we mess it up.

Governments too are like human beings. After all, they are run men and women. It is very rare for governments to accept failures on their part. The Americans and allies will never shoulder the blame for the failures in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the future in Libya. It’s just the morning after in Libya; more difficult hours are yet to come.

But you have to give credit to government in developed countries for taking responsibility when domestic policies fail. They may not want to be liable when they ruin other countries, but when it comes to their own kind, they man up.

And we want to be just like them! It is easier said than done. The debt crises in Europe brought down the Italian and Greek governments. Others were voted out, more follow but time will tell. You don’t expect to see that happening in our countries. In Swaziland, for example, the King and his many wives live in relative luxury while the government can’t afford to pay the salaries of civil servants. How then can we wish to be like them (developed countries)?

Nothing exceptionally good comes without sacrifices. And sacrifices are not confined to slaughtering flocks of sheep as an offering. Sacrifices also include making way for others where one sees that the task before him or her is insurmountable.

We need to think beyond personal status and perks. We need to start thinking of building a nation and moving it forward. It is wishful thinking to believe that one can make progress like others have done while at the time not willing to make similar sacrifices.

It will also be myopic on my part to hang on to the thought that we will make progress by simply doing what those who have succeeded have done and then sit back and wait for results. My position should also not be misconstrued to suggesting we should all go Mzungu. But we still have to start somewhere. And that somewhere could be a change in our attitudes and ways of doing things, our own way.

A few days back, a parliamentary select committee that was formed to investigate misuse of funds in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals presented its findings in Parliament. In the saga, several senior government officials were found to be complicity in wrongdoing and due disciplinary and legal action against them was recommended.

After a whole week had passed not so many of us knows what has become or will become of them. However, out of courtesy and as a gesture of savory demeanor, the least one would have expected is for those implicated taking the first responsible step by resigning out of their own volition.  

Since that doesn’t seem likely to happen, we will continue to be us and they will continue to be them. And to us, their lives will always seem better than ours because we will never come to know of their pain and suffering, we only see their joy and progress. 

Reckless conduct and misplaced priorities

I SHALL borrow from one senior, and wise, citizen who once said that impromptu issues lead prompt decisions. How I have to come to value that statement. Prompt decisions do not always serve an intended purpose. Likewise, nothing desirable is likely to come out of anything impromptu.

When it comes to matters that are sensitive to the wellbeing of a society, quick decisions and unprepared flare-ups could prove detrimental. On that backbone, public figures with a huge following need to wisely gauge what they say or do prior to going public with their decisions. 

That is called responsible conduct, a very important quality in any leader. Acting irresponsibly just because you have political support is rather juvenile and reckless. Any seasoned politician with the best interests of the nation at heart wouldn’t take that route just to stir public empathy.

The opposition Chadema is of late seemed so bent on organizing demonstrations as though its whole survival depended on it. My understanding of the functions of any political party is that staging demonstrations would be the last resort in getting a party’s point across. 

I also understand that staging demonstration is a constitutional right. But I also understand that rights and freedoms can easily be abused by people with sinister motives thus the need for limitations. One limitation always begins with the person granted the rights and freedoms, and that is making sound judgment before exercising one’s right.

One would also expect a registered political party that plays the role of the official opposition in the august House to act responsibly and strive to keep peace. The decision by the Chadema leadership to stage demonstration just because one of its legislators and a few supporters were arrested and remanded in prison by no means reflects responsible conduct.

For one, it can be matter-of-factly stated that the Chadema legislator, Mr Godbless Lema, refused to post bail the first he was taken to court so the party should not try to muscle state organs to have things their way. On the other hand, since when have we started interfering matters that are before the courts of law?

It is my understanding that Chadema has some sort of friendly affiliation with the Conservative party of the UK. Not so long ago the Conservatives were an opposition party, but now it has formed a coalition government. Perhaps Chadema should learn a thing or two from them, they don’t stage protests just because something does please their leader(s).

Ever since the general elections ended last year, Chadema has carved a niche for itself as a party of protesters. I wonder if they realize that not everybody wants to be party to regular protests that have not brought to bear on anything. The productive time wasted, and money to some, could have been put to other good use.

Furthermore, the people’s power slogan is being wrongly used by the party. Trust me, they may have people lurking around, but the power lies elsewhere. All this fuss was because of the MP who is in remand prison and not the dozens of followers. Conventional wisdom alone is enough to make one reach to that conclusion.

The 80/20 Rule is at work here, of the vital few and trivial many. Had it been handful supporters of the party languishing in remand prison for breaking the law, we probably wouldn’t have heard about the matter. But since one of the party’s maverick MPs is involved, we are forced to make do with sleepless nights.

The party, apparently, wants to use the Arusha mayoral elections’ saga as a political tool to influence political decisions at the national level. That again is juvenile. If at all the party cared about people, it would have reali9zed that it hurting businesses and disrupting people’s daily lives every time they stage a demo.

Chadema should learn to leave some things to civil rights groups and organizations and focus more on its activities as a political party. As a political party that may someday be given the mandate to form a government, staging demonstrations every time something does not seem right may come back to haunt them.

Unless, of course, the party’s leadership is certain that they will never make it that far and so they just want to play with people’s emotions and sentiments before they disappear into oblivion, never ever to come back.

Seven billion and other innocent questions

THE last time the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting came to Africa it left a bad aftertaste in some mouths. There are those who now wish the Commonwealth Summit never came a knocking on their doorsteps. One traded places from a presidential mansion to a prison cell overnight.

The CHOGM experience that was hosted in Uganda is such bad news today that a teary former Vice President Prof Bukenya didn’t know what hit him when he was remanded in prison. He is facing charges in connection with the award of a contract to supply cars for the summit in the capital Kampala in 2007.

Other cabinet ministers have been charged along with Prof Bukenya. One cannot be sure if this is just a display of sorts to please Big Brother because he had threatened to cut aid or if these guys really deserved to bite the dust.

This year’s CHOGM was held in Perth, Australia and we don’t expect to hear any allegations and accusations of fraudulent dealings having taken place just when we are about to forget that the summit even took place. Some things only happen in Africa and the like.

Nothing unexpected came out of the gathering bar for the continuing struggle over reforming anti-gay laws. As a result, Britain has threatened countries that ban homosexuality with losing aid payments unless they reform. Big Brother at it again!

The British Prime Minister said he had raised the issue with leaders of some of the states involved when he attended the Commonwealth Summit in Australia. Britain was putting the pressure on, he said. What the heck is this guy thinking of?

Apparently, Mr Cameron doesn’t understand that some things don’t suit Africans; homosexuality is not African, period. We believe it is unnatural and extremely immoral.

Just like the British have the right to put pressure on poor countries, poor countries also have the right to preserve their values. Homosexuality in our parts of the world is more than just a taboo, forcing its official recognition as a right is rather insulting to our people.

Mr Cameron should also understand that we are still grappling with a myriad of problems that no longer trouble the Global North. As such, our preoccupations are rather different from theirs. At a time when we are facing a famine scare, who really wants to hear about gay rights? That’s would be the last thing on a starving man’s mind.

 Perhaps they should send someone down here and ask how many people want anti-gay reforms. This is something that our people have never wanted though there might a few who have been influenced by foreign trends.  

Unless the British premier was suggesting that citizens of aid recipient nations must be gay against their will as a condition to receive aid, his threat was derogatory and misplaced.

And if it has to come to that, must we lose our dignity just to receive aid? Do we really need that kind of aid? Mine are just innocent questions, the powers that be have decided. With all due respect, no one is going gay here, the rest can go figure. 

Still on innocent questions, are there really seven billion of us? The United Nations estimated that on October 31 the world's population reached seven billion. And you thought the likes of David Cameron would have been preoccupied with the more challenging task ahead of feeding seven billion hungry mouths instead of forcing poor folks to embrace homosexuality.

Speaking of soaring world population, I couldn’t help but wonder how the UN could come up with such estimates. There are so many countries in the world, including Tanzania, that do not know for sure how many people they have.

But given that there is an error margin, I will give the estimates the benefit of doubt and proceed to rejoice in my little discovery. Through the BBC website, I came to realize that when I was born, I was the 4,140,875,813^th person alive on earth and I am the 78,545,045,950^th person to have lived since history began!

And as I was digesting the fact that so many men and women have walked this earth, a thought struck me. Would we have reached those numbers had our ancestors, for any reason, chosen to be gay? Just another innocent question, Mr Cameron!