I know, “lies” is a pretty strong word. But a fabrication, taking liberties with the truth, bearing false witness against thy neighbour, call it what you will…when you knowingly say something that’s not true, that is lying dear reader.
We all know for instance that Donald Trump has made too many promises to ever be able to keep them all. The trick is to figure out which ones he will keep and which he won’t. Trump is not the only one; so many other political leaders have done that.
The unvarnished truth is that politicians do lie about things. So, why do politicians believe they can lie when their untruths are so easily uncovered? In the African political context, it has become cancerous.
I’m constantly amazed by how often politicians lie and, of course, their unwillingness to admit that they lied. The euphemisms that politicians use for what is, in many cases, bold-faced lies are legend. Politicians misspoke. The biased media misinterpreted what they meant. Politicians’ words were distorted, misrepresented, twisted, exaggerated, or taken out of context. They overstated, understated, or misstated. But, of course, politicians never lie; at least that is what they say.
There are many case studies we can use to support the above argument. Samson and Delilah- President Mugabe’s fall from grace, the rise and fall of the G40 cabal in Zimbabwe bears testimony, so is the Guptarization of the South African economy under the leadership of Jacob Zuma. The 2017 Kenya’s Presidential election was thrown into turmoil after the losing opposition said the result had been faked and demanded its leader be handed the presidency. Amid mounting anxiety in a country haunted by its history of post-election violence, Raila Odinga’s opposition coalition accused the body responsible for conducting the poll of deliberately denying its leader the presidency.
In Botswana for example, the 2009 election campaigns the quadrennial contest for deception, misdirection, fact-bending, half-truths, and downright lies, in other words, the challenge to win the hearts and minds of voters, were in full swing. So dramatic were the campaigns that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) numero-uno and the country’s president, Lt General Ian Khama Seretse, branded himself ‘Lepako. The term ‘lepako’ in Setswana literally means a strong and tough un-breakable log.
BDP then set for itself an ambitious target in the elections to win 70% share of the popular vote which had been declining over the decades. Although the 70% was an over-ambitious target it was a helpful propaganda tool because with Ian Khama playing the role of the BDP’s ‘chief campaigner’ in the elections it became clear that the party was realising impressive and enthusiastic following at freedom squares. All that the party needed to do was to parade King Khama IV at its political rallies and allow his majesty to carry out his usual ‘celebrity walks’ around the different wards and villages, causing poor grannies to ululate and dance endlessly with the young and old climbing tall trees to have a glimpse of their celebrity politician. He became an ‘Obamanyana’ of some sort. His majesty’s visits usually ended up with night fire vigils held with the village elders in order to cement his total onslaught.
Even then, the party did poorly given the fact that it could only register 53.7% of the popular vote. Furthermore, the numbers declined deeply in the 2014 general elections showing that the “Lepako Magic” was just a mere fantasy. In fact had it not been failure to cooperate by the opposition political parties Khama’s Lepako magic” could have been rendered a ‘termite-ravaged lepako even with the ‘lepako magic’ flaunted around.
However, it is worth noting that, that was then as the new political landscape in the country presents new dimensions. The opposition has become its own worst enemy and should the situation continue, it will remain a dream of having the first opposition first lady at the State House. It should be remembered that politicians are not outsiders, they are one if us. A representative reflects the views of the public. The opposition must be cautioned to avoid fielding political tsotsi’s; with a history of being involved in washa washa ponzi schemes, alleged ex-convicts, village idiots with delusions of grandeur. Otherwise they stand to lose BIG in their so called strong holds in 2019.
The study of psychology provides intriguing insights into why broken campaign promises “hurt so bad.” Psychologists describe this effect as “negative expectancy disconfirmation”
Many politicians are narcissists. Narcissists are arrogant, self-important, see themselves as special, require excessive admiration, have a sense of entitlement, and are exploitative. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s probably a duck. This constellation of narcissistic attributes causes them to believe that they are right and, even if they are not, they are too smart to be caught or suffer the consequences. In other words, they believe their own.
Politicians know their followers will believe them, even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Politicians and their adherents live in an echo chamber in which everyone watches the same news channel, listens to the same talk radio, reads the same newspapers and web sites, and hangs out with the same like-minded people. There exists an impermeable membrane that prevents conflicting information from entering. The content of the lies is also usually red meat for the politicians’ ravenous base who are only too happy to chew on it for days on end.
People don’t want to hear the truth. Truth, as the saying goes, hurts and no one wants to hear things that threaten their existence, their beliefs, or that will make them uncomfortable. It is decidedly better for politicians to tell people what makes them feel comfortable. Why should politicians be the purveyors of bad news (and decrease the likelihood of getting people’s votes) when they can tell fairy tales with happy endings which, of course, everyone want and come out the victor.
Every politician knows that the key to winning elections is to make great promises. Campaigners promise to cure the ills of society including fighting corruption and, maladministration if elected, they will bring about vast improvements in education, employment, infrastructure, and the economy.
The size of the elected office seems almost correlated with the size of the promise. Even at the state or local level, however, politicians in close races may attempt to extract a few additional votes by promising to improve a specific problem that an interest group cares about the most. There’s no need here to detail the many broken campaign promises that have accumulated throughout history.
In many ways, voters are the eternal optimists who can’t learn from experience. We want to believe that our politicians will improve our lives. But when post-election reality hits, we forget how unrealistic we were in believing that somehow “this time,” the outcome would be different.
Politicians make us to brush aside the real problem and make us to think in wrong direction with their promises. People should come out of this as soon as possible. Otherwise there won’t be end or solution to this problem. Many politicians act as if promises are cheap. However breach of promise is very expensive not only in terms of voters’ confidence but in terms of God’s holding them to account for their ill-considered lies.
Politicians make promises which they expect people to ‘understand, people are so gullible as to believe unbelievable propositions. This happens because people do not plan properly for unseen eventualities; and when they get caught out they claim that such and such an event could not possibly be foreseen. As “the pot calls the kettle black” the public looks on frustrated that they have been caught out again by political half-baked promises.
Great leaders require not only the ability to take bold action, but the willingness of citizens to allow them to try to win without having to make wild and unrealistic promises. Zimbabweans are still in a state of shock as they had never imagined even goliath can be tamed without fear and loss of blood ÔÇô A lesson to many in Africa.
I am not a fortune teller nor am I a sangoma, but one would imagine the jubilations and excitement and freedom to come in Botswana on the morning after, the 31stMarch 2018. It would be nice to wake up and be able to feel that whoever succeeds is one we can truly believe in and only hope it is not an April fool prank because lying seems to be reaching its apogee. Just like the “crocodile” is seen as the saviour in Zimbabwe going forward so is Sissy Boy in Botswana.
Thabo Lucas Seleke writes from Seleme Farm, Rasesa
