Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
Retrospection exposes our weaknesses
The end of a year provides an ideal opportunity for introspection and resolutions to improve on our weaknesses. The conduct of our politicians on both sides of the political divide over the past year has raised genuine concerns regarding the extent to which they internalize and fully appreciate their core functions.
Regardless of their philosophical or ideological bent, those who aspire to be leaders in this nation must first and foremost regard themselves as servants of the people. Our leaders must fully understand what it means to be a servant of the people—all of the people of this nation. This demands an appreciation of their role as servant first and leader second.
It requires a commitment to stewardship and the protection of a body of ideals that place people and their needs at the centre. In addition, it seeks the empowerment of others attained through respect, and an appreciation of and trust in those whom they lead.
It is an intrinsic trait which must be so engrained in the nature of true leaders that it almost defines them. Though this may appear simplistic, it has proven to be a rare quality that we must however establish as a natural prerequisite for effective leadership at this critical stage and for the future of our country’s evolution.
This service element has to be primary and regarded as the raison d’etre for those aspiring for positions that shape and define the future of this land we love so dearly. 
Our very short history as a nation has been replete with individuals in high offices whose actions have palpably demonstrated the absence of this service quality. Many may have started with such lofty aims and seem to have lost their grounding along the way. Others appear to have never embraced this as being at the heart of their duty to this nation.
True leadership is not arrived at through the assumption of a post; it is the amalgam of a list of demonstrated qualities, service being the most important. The level of arrogance demonstrated when addressing the business of the people clearly indicates an absence of such an appreciation. The clear abuse of power and aloofness when faced with the needs of the people—all the people—they have sworn to serve indicate dispositions at odds with the commitment to serve. Disregard for the right of the nation to information and to participate in key decision-making processes flies in the face of the service-leader concept.
Partisan allegiances at the expense of the attainment of national cohesion and integration contradict this most fundamental principle. Blatant self-aggrandizement, cronyism and nepotism that have emerged as defining traits of leaders in our country at various intervals are at odds with the call to serve.
Leaders of this nation, regardless of party and power base, should honestly examine their true impact against this most basic principle of service. The one-upmanship and petty posturing for cheap political points have little lasting effect on the quality of the society we and our grandchildren will enjoy.
Service has an immeasurable ripple effect that ultimately enriches all who are touched by it. They in-turn appreciate its importance and become servants themselves. Ultimately, our nation stands to benefit from these acts of service, though they may initially appear isolated and insignificant. The power bestowed upon you as leaders should be used to this end, leaving in its wake a formidable foundation upon which future generations can build.
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