Friends, when a regime arrests and harasses high profile activists, opponents, and critics, be careful that these are not grand diversions and distractions from the core issues at hand, namely: endemic corruption, incompetence, and impoverishment.

It is a clever ploy to get everyone to focus less on the robbery transacted by elites and focus more on their collective and/or individual safety. This shift in focus gives looters relief and the space to ransack national coffers some more without anyone paying them attention or being a nuisance by asking inconvenient questions.

I have often been amazed by how we have – and continue to – reproduce the vices of our oppressors in our approach to leadership and also in how our imagination is tied to narrowly defined versions & visions of leadership.

This idea that conflates – or confuses – leadership with the ruling, domination, personalization, oppression of others, exclusion of those we disagree with, and hogging power. Leadership is seen only as a position and a possession ( a thing, Chinhu chedu, into yethu , etc). People kill – and go to the depths of occultism- in order to keep positions and this idea of leadership as a possession.

The process of leadership is – of necessity – characterized by mutuality; value-exchanges and co-creation between the led and the leadership. Leadership Traits and outcomes of leading – though important- don’t define leadership. The complex interactions between the bottom, top, and middle shapes, molds, directs, guides, restraints, and catalyzes the leadership dynamic or process.

That is why it is dangerous to have captive crowds that don’t reciprocate or contribute ideas beyond ululation and adulation. Crowd support can be intoxicating and blinding, especially in what it does not tell us about leadership as well as in what it hides. But you will always have such crowds if you don’t build critical consciousness in the society.

Critical consciousness is about the responsibility and accountability of everyone to shape the present, the future, and the society that we want. The multiplicity city of leadership allows a totally different approach to create unions on today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. The idea of One Leader who is the fountain of knowledge, wisdom & Innovation is a comical lie. A childish prank! One person cannot be the Mega Mall of everything Leadership. What is tragic though is the idea that the leader makes no mistake? How is this even possible to imagine let alone think about it?

We must viciously fight the personalization of stats States institutions. In politics, the rise of personality cults is -by nature -a very violent & exclusionary process. It is often dominated by thugs or political party Activists-Cum-Criminals.

Fi, st, you have a de-ideologization of politics. Second, ethical vacuums become entrenched Third, personalization becomes normalized. Then Villagization was followed by the family dynasty. This is why Julius Nyerere warned that African Nationalism- if it is not at the same time Pan-Africanist – is anachronistic. At such levels of political decomposition, appealing to ethical standards becomes futile because none exists. Referring to ideological consciousness is meaningless because no ideology guides greed & personalization

Well, there are merchants in every situation. These appeal to the naivete, insecurity, or narcissistic disorder of the Leader. If you’re the leader watch out for the signs of capture, manipulation, deception, and corruption.

These are:-
1. CAPTURE BY TITLES – You get these ever so helpful and generous subordinates who are always there when you need them ( Danger Skelem) . They insist on lavishing you with titles gifts, and obsessive attention. They begin insisting that everyone else should use these titles to refer to you Your real identity gets buried in fancy high-sounding titles. Please wake up ….You have less money than Jeff Bezos Bill Gates and Warren Buffet …Less fame than Barack Obama …Less infamy than Donald Trump …And you have dozens of Titles? For the Why My friend gets substance ….don’t make up for what you lack in substance through titles!

What these title-conferring tricksters don’t disclose is that they are using you as a stepping stone to their sinister agenda. They are forcing on you what they really want for themselves. If you don’t believe me, fire them or ignore them for 8 months and you will see how vicious they become towards you! They don’t love you, they are simply using you to gain authority over those you lead and credibility with your peers!

Before you know it, they will isolate and insulate you from everyone else except themselves. Then you will be fully captured! They will tell you who is loyal, who is trustworthy, who is for or against you. As sure as nightfall, they will soon use you to eliminate anybody and everybody in your team that they see as competition. This is a classic case of the Leader serving as errand boy or girl for power merchants or influence entrepreneurs

2. GIFTS and CELEBRATIONS: people must appreciate their leadership. But why is it necessary to flood Leadership with gifts that do not help broaden the leader’s impact and vision? Let me explain something to you. No matter how much you need personal things as a leader your best people are those who give to your business or mission & not just your needs. If your mission is technology, employment creation, Arts health, education, etc. Your greatest supporters are not the ones that build you a Blue Roof House…No It is those that donate to your Tech advancement, National Arts Fund, Education scholarships, Health Infrastructure development, etc. They are concerned about your legacy and not just your ego! So, this celebration of days and full adverts in newspapers and rituals of appreciation are more for the doer than the Leader. They are a means of capture!

3. ENEMIES, PLOTTERS & SCAREMONGERING:- There are people who plot and do harm. Don’t be naive always be alert to this reality But if you are surrounded by people who are more conscious of witches, wizards enemies & plotters than opportunities …..you’re finished!

In order to make a difference as a leader, you need to anticipate and prepare for opportunities. All opportunities require teams of motivated people. They require more accessible- not detached – leaders. Always get the pulse of your team directly, not through intermediaries. Some people work to manage your 24/7 and thus prevent you from knowing, feeling, experiencing, or seeing anything but what they want you to. These babysitters are dangerous. More so if as a leader you develop co-dependencies with them! Babysitters tend to be experts at cover and cover-up as well as scaremongering.

Scaremongering is the surest way to capture any leader. Devious characters work tirelessly to create or enlarge insecurities in the leadership that only they can eliminate. That way they become indispensable to the leader Be very careful that such characters! If you’re not alert and wise as a leader, they will make you eliminate your most dependable, loyal, and productive Team Members.

As a rule, I watch out for characters that are too heavily invested in organizational politics. They are usually the most unproductive in the organization. They are simply human destruction machines …TOXIC HUMANS!