BY Z NTATA

It never ceases to amaze me that presidential assistants in Africa believe that they must hold up umbrellas for their presidents when he is in a situation that exposes him to the elements. In contrast, in many countries where I have had the good fortune of visiting, when the rain or snow, or a shower is coming, a president holds his or her own umbrella. No assistant shadowing his or her every move, shielding him or her from the reality of the weather.

But then again in Africa, there are umbrella men everywhere. These are the people who protect their leaders or bosses from reality. They are first to ensure that no bad elements come face to face with the boss, giving him a false and unrealistic view of how the situation really is on the ground. Umbrella men are probably the biggest threat to good governance in Africa. They are responsible for misleading political leaders into wrong decisions based on wrong information because the leader has been shielded from grasping the true realities.

The most amazing thing about all this though, is the fact that each is comfortable with the status quo, and no-one seems to notice that this is at the heart of many an economic growth failure even. The political leader- president, Prime Minister, General! – enjoys the idea of having an umbrella man who prevents him from grasping true realities. Never mind that his oath of office was an assurance to serve those very realities.

The umbrella man also is happy with being the one who prevents the leader – a person who is supposed to be aware of the realities of the nation – from being aware of those realities; happy to be the one that does the misleading! If someone noticed something wrong with this set up, then why does the next leader immediately finds himself new umbrella men just like his or her predecessor? And why are people always queueing up to be umbrella men?

Perhaps one day, the leaders will refuse to have umbrella men and have the moral courage to live the meaning of their oath of office, and to face the governing “elements” themselves in person. And perhaps a new generation of political assistants will rise that refuse to become umbrella men and listen to the inner voice that will remind them of why they joined politics, and inspire them with the sense of patriotism that will stir them to put long-term national development before temporary personal gratification.

Perhaps.

Such a day will dawn for sure. Something, though, tells me it’s not tomorrow.

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