Are you a citizen or owner of your country?

“Wewe ni mwenye- inchi au mwana- inchi?”

This question is from the Swahili language widely spoken in the East Africa region. In English, its translation is as follows; “Are you the owner of your country or are you just a citizen?” I wish to analyze this statement from a political angle. How is such a question pertinent to matters political you may ask; for starters most nations In the world today practice the system of government known as democracy with the exception of a few. Other government systems practiced include socialism, communism, dictatorship, Monarchy just to name a few. My focus is on democratic system of government.

In a democratic system, government is constituted by individuals elected into office by the general populous/citizens of the country in question. Indeed this voting system seems to cut across the broad spectrum of all societal engagements including electing officials to head workers unions, self help groups, neighborhood committees and so forth. Thus I think it is important that all citizens in any given country are made aware of the consequences of electing into office government officials whose contribution will impact negatively on their lives be it economically, socially, morally and spiritually. So, how do you know whether you are the owner of your country or just a citizen?

Look at your country as a company and you are the C.E.O (Chief Executive Officer); in this case government officials are in effect your employees. And just like any other company, employees are expected to perform duties assigned to them by their boss to the expected standards. You vote government officials into office with the hope that they will improve or maintain high standards of management and use of the county’s resources. More often than not, certain individuals seem to dominate national politics in their respective country for many years. What is important to ask yourself as a voter is in the time the individual has served in government, how has he/she performed tasks assigned to him by you the voter. If the answer to this question is good, consider you and all those who voted for the individual as owners of your country (Mwenye- inchi). On the other hand, if your answer is not good and yet every time there is an election you still vote in the same character, consider you and all those who voted for the individual as just citizens of your country. (Mwana- inchi).

The next time you vote for a government official ask yourself whether you want to be the C.E.O or just a citizen of your country. You become the C.E.O by ensuring you cast your vote to the candidate that is more likely to contribute towards betterment of your life as an individual as well as society as a whole through effective and efficient use of available resources. To qualify as just a citizen of your country; be like the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand and keep wasting your vote by aiding corrupt, greedy, archaic, shameless, integrity tainted, pompous and generally unfit individuals into office year in year out. And while you are at it please spare us your ranting on and on about how ineffective the government is.

Make your vote count and share this with all people you know in order to improve the quality of governance in your country.