Running for office: A Barmecide feast?

Everywhere you set foot in Makerere, you will usually be beset by walls awash with candidates posters written on eye catching campaign slogans. The same goes for social media platforms especially WhatsApp. There’s no way you can escape the election fever that is running through campus right now. For those who have been fortunate enough to stand, you will know that these are very unsettling times. The thought of your opponent campaigning can keep you awake in the dead of the night, thinking and pondering on the outcome of the election. The lapse of otherwise productive time that could have been used to attend to academic pursuits is another price to pay. Without forgetting money of course, that sweet sound of coins clanking in ones’ pocket. A combination of lost time and money is a kamikaze expense. One that can leave you with gaping pockets and a stack of books staring right in front of you. It is a heavy price to pay. The stakes are therefore always high for all running candidates during this electoral period. The danger of losing is easily upset by the glory of emerging victorious. It is like seeing ripe fruits at the very top of the tree and climbing to pick them. The higher you climb, the feebler and less firm, are the branches. This is what made Theseus (a hero in Greek myths and fables) to remark that where there is danger, there is glory. However after getting into positions of power, it won’t take so long for successful candidates to realize that not all is rosy at the top. That reminds me of the proverbial sword of Damocles story. According to the story, Damocles was pandering to Dionysius, his king, and exclaimed to him that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that very fortune firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great fortune and power comes also great danger.
Some leaders worry about the kind of legacy they will leave behind whereas others simply want positions of leadership for monumental purposes. Yet it is those who seek to impact any real change in the societies they live in that will be more afflicted by the experience of being a leader. For them, the experience is like hot iron in a blazing furnace.  How they handle challenges faced in leadership indelibly leaves a strong mark on their character for better or for worse
The thrill of entering into the corridors of power with hope to change things for the better normally results into despair upon realizing that the system is built not to favor any real change. It is like the proverbial feast of Barmacide (derived from the story of a hungry beggar invited by a barmacide prince to a banquet, which proved a long succession of merely empty dishes, and which he enjoyed with such seeming gusto and such good-humour as to earn for himself a sumptuous real one). How one adapts to such realities is what determines how well they will do in office.  We live in a society with inflexible systems, initiative in student leadership is greatly frowned upon. It only takes the ingenuity of a true leader to accomplish his goals and objectives. Without such ingenuity nothing can ever be achieved. Prospective leaders should also know that being unpopular or disliked is also an attendant risk of being a leader. They will scrutinize your every move, what you say in public, how you behave. They will criticize you at the earliest opportunity that they get. Therefore, a leader should not waste a lot of time on trying to be liked. True leaders should also learn not to follow utilitarian views of a great majority, that common vulgar mass but must do what they think is best. People will respect a leader who is truly excellent and scrupulous in what he does. Such a leader should not fear rebuke from those who oppose him. Since being truly excellent, he will gain the people's favour in times of adversity. Leaders must also learn to take decisions for the greater good, even if it means being unpopular for a short while. What will accuse him/her will later excuse them. What a leader cannot afford to be above all, is to look indecisive and intransigent. He must guide against this as if gathering against a hard rock. A leader must confront challenges as and when they come, without letting them drag on. This is my letter to all future candidates.