AN UNHEALTHY POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE, AND WHO ARE TO BLAME*_
I’ve of late shied away from participation in, or commentary on politics in our Kono district, this is not incidental.
Politics in Kono is very toxic, and, in my view, politics should serve as a driving force towards development and cohesion.
But the toxicity endemic in Kono political culture has led to a society devoid of, trust for each other, mutual respect, and a lack of focus on our district’s developmental requirements.
If the district political leadership of SLPP, APC and C4C continue their approach of underhandedness, manipulation, perfidy and a shameful pursuit of personal gain at the expense of the development of Kono and the unity of her children, then our future will remain bleak.
The district leadership of these three political parties have been using their followers to sow disunity and distrust for not just opposition politicians, but also within their own parties, in an effort to gain political superiority.
The danger this holds for our future is that the youth, who should be working as a unit to lobby for the betterment of Kono, are being employed as puns in our very toxic political battlefield; I make no exceptions in this statement, it is my honest observation.
An observation that may not make me friends, but for which I’ll sleep better.
So, the youth who should be mentored and nutured to ensure a better future for our Kono are being groomed to be worse versions of the current political leadership.
Someday, they’ll inherit the political leadership of Kono, and how will they lead?
In no different a way than Kono is being led now; hate, lies, backstabbing, sycophancy and disunity.
What can the national political leadership of these parties do to serve Kono better?
Our politicians in Kono behave as they have been, disruptively, to gain political favour at national level.
APC undermine APC; SLPP back stab each other too, and C4C are imploding from within, in order to gain perks from the ruling SLPP.
None of these going-ons will benefit Kono in any way.
Inversely, the rot will infect our future.
I have written this piece in the hope of getting our youth, the future leaders, to realise that their future is being jeopardised by their political mentors, for personal gain.
The national leadership must discourage the politics of kongosa ( gossip) , and encourage our Kono politicians to genuinely embrace unity and development.
To do so, they must judge Kono politicians by their personal contributions towards our district’s development; and I don’t mean solely financially.
The national political leadership bear a responsibility for our projection and progress.
Toxic political rhetoric must be fiercely discouraged, if Kono is to progress.
Happy New year to you.
®Tony Konomanyi
