Blame vs. Accountability

In the last few years I have been involved in several public debates and have noticed a very strong blame culture come to life that has somehow done little to address current problems faced by Zimbabwean society. As I write this article I automatically become a victim of such a culture as I attempt to identify the causes and possible solutions around this seemingly never ending thought process that has been strengthened by our current leaders since independence. How many times in the last 30 years have you heard the word 'colonialism', 'imperialism', 'tribalism', 'neo-colonialism' and all the other isms? I'm sure we all know that those words have been associated with some kind of negativity affecting Africans and other developing countries, but has the continuous use of the words changed anything? Has the use of the words changed our socio-economic environments to benefit a broader society? Is blaming the past in-consistences going to fix the present in-consistences? I think history has taught us a lot of sad stories about the past but should we continuously dig the past in order to create a better future? Well I'll leave you to be your own judge to those questions, we are all obviously motivated by different things in life, if constantly being reminded about the negative past drives your work output or general outlook on life then let it be, however I believe positive thoughts influence positive actions.

I have through time realised that this constant investigation into our past develops a loop to the problems we currently face, as in most cases no one is prepared to take responsibility or more so accept that a particular group is responsible for creating the problem in the first place thereby forcing it to spiral on a continuous endless loop..

‘When problems occur, we are likely to start looking for someone to blame before we start looking for a solution.’

Let us analyse the difference between blame and accountability, accountability is holding someone responsible for an action, whereas blame is more associated with accusation. Blame also induces fear, which I think explains the Zimbabwean leadership crisis and political impasse which has been caused as a result of past wrongs, be it human right violations to corrupt governance. Because of these existing and constant accusations from the past, our leaders fear has been transformed to a violent defensive action to resist any change demanded by the people of Zimbabwe.

The difference between blame and accountability is particularly significant in political governance issues and the traditional work place. Fear can induce a person to work, but it cannot cultivate enthusiasm. A good example of this type of fear is common in public servants who have been highly politicised especially security services where service delivery is based on orders, which in most cases are punishable if not followed. Fear can also put a person off entirely especially in circumstances where a safe and open environment for protest does not exist. Unfortunately, blame doesn’t stop at hurting someone. It has the potential to seriously damage a career or a relationship. Fear of being blamed holds people back from acknowledging their mistakes or shortcomings and also destroys opportunities to learn from them. This I believe has been Zimbabwe’s greatest challenge where senior government officials have too many skeletons (wrongs) hanging in the closets and therefore fear leaving their positions of authority and power out of fear of prosecution for past offences committed whilst in official government service.

A more productive approach would be to hold people accountable if necessary create legislation to enforce this. In the case of governments accountability would require a non-partisan enforcement agency that cannot be influenced by political leadership. If a mistake is made, it should be acknowledged so that a lesson can be learned for the future. People rarely get fired for making a few small mistakes, but they do lose their jobs if they go on making the same mistakes over and over again. The challenge for new leadership lies in changing this blame culture to a more accountable system of governance, this obviously will require a complete over-haul of public service systems through reforming of the politicised public services so that law enforcement can take place without any outside interference hopefully creating a more respectable society regardless of any individuals social status or authority (position in society).

If we held our leaders accountable they wouldn’t feel like they were being blamed but rather held responsible for their actions. Blaming is malicious and has the capacity to injure. Injury leads to lies and deceit as the blamed attempt to defend and justify their actions. Holding someone accountable, on the other hand, requires the person to take responsibility. The biggest difference between the two approaches is their effectiveness when it comes to encouraging error creator to learn from the problems so that future mistakes can be avoided. 

Fear of getting blamed prevents new thoughts (creativity) and ideas from taking wing. How we hate to hear someone say, “This sounds like a good idea, but if it backfires, you will be solely responsible!” Comments like this very effectively nip new ideas in the bud. But with some minor linguistic changes, the same sentiment can be expressed in an encouraging manner. What I’m trying to say is the language used by our media to describe negative events though sincere may actually turn out to be very intimidating and quite scary to someone with great responsibility and power involved in those negative events. The result becomes the power of the pen (Media) and voice (people) versus the power of authority (politician) and force (Military) which equals dictatorship or continuous socio-economic instability.

Conclusively mistakes cannot be ignored, nor can we gloss over them with evasive language. Ultimately it is important to face mistakes and learn from them. Mistakes must contribute to the quest for perfection and growth. Blaming someone for a mistake allows neither of these things to happen. In the process, it tears down existing structures of confidence and passion-vital ingredients for professional development. It's time for a progressive culture, one that seeks solutions based on analysing past mistakes.

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” ~Albert Ellis

Are our leaders responsible for Tribal Politics or are we as people failing to see beyond Tribalism?

I have been prompted to write this article based on findings from several discussions in the past year on Facebook and other social circles that I have come across. In fact when we look at a broader picture of tribalism, the majority of Africans are not able or willing to forsake their tribal allegiances, which I’m not asking them to do.  So what do we do with this mind set?

How can we maintain tribal identities without using them as a conflict creating mechanism between the different tribes? I believe the key to improved relationships in any situation is good communication, people from different tribes need to understand each other’s tribal heritage if they are to be accommodative and less hostile towards each other. Tribes can be a contradiction in today’s Africa where some may see them as an evil if their tribe is not in power and a benefit if their tribe is in power. This I believe is due to the nature of our out-dated political and government systems where there are no checks and balances to correct such misinterpretations. This creates an uncomfortable climate of absolute power resting in the hands of the domineering and ruling ‘Tribe’ and naturally extends down to the ‘people’ where those leaders come from. So what should be done?

Firstly we as people need to learn to appreciate our diverse natural being.  We have to accept that humans are different in nature regardless of the colour of their skin or gender orientation. We need to appreciate that as Africans we have historical links that we treasure and this in itself is not inherently evil. Perhaps we could start by making our welfare systems more accommodative of our cultural differences. Are we addressing our cultural institutional framework (if any) effectively or have the colonially adopted systems weakened them? Could it be if you weaken the family you weaken the nation? Africans traditionally belonged to extended families, which in turn belonged to a clan, and which in turn belonged to a tribe.

Since Zimbabwean Independence have our leaders really tried and failed to make the great leap from individualism and tribal groups to national citizens? I think it’s time we started embracing diversity in a more productive manner, this preconceived mentality that for one to have allegiance to a nation the benefits must outweigh those of belonging to a particular tribe must be erased. Like most African nations individuals are defined as a citizen only on paper where your primary designation is that of an ethnic group. For example on paper you might be Zimbabwean but your benefits or ill fate is determined by whether you are Ndebele or Shona. This schizophrenic national mind set permeates Africa and its denial only compounds the problem.

Though there are still a sizeable number of Zimbabwean citizens who have respect and have primary allegiance to the tribal structures, the central government is viewed as an outside force that is often hostile and not relevant. I submit that the national government would have more legitimacy if all tribes were represented perhaps not so much in parliament but proportionally in the Senate. All issues in government would be examined using dual standards; a tribal and a national standard. Balance both interests. In most parliaments an upper house should be formed consisting of statesmen who command the most respect and support from each tribe. All tribes would be designated two members very much like the US Senate. This group will balance the State interests versus the tribal interests. An equal representation will ensure that the rights and interests of minority tribes are not trampled upon by majority tribes.

The challenge to this approach would be the modification of the current traditional roles to be inclusive of other senior citizens who have also influenced positive change in society through their contributions to the development of Zimbabwean Society. These could include senior and retired individuals from the various sectors like religion, business, sports, music etc. In principle the Senate should not be composed of retired political players only but include all key members who have made a substantial contribution to the development of Zimbabwean society.

I think one of the biggest complications to democracy in Africa is the influence Western Culture has on our society it becomes almost impossible to draw a line of between African traditional values and Western cultural values. This is further complicated by the failure by our academics and perhaps the United Nations as an International monitoring body, in trying to translate similarities of basic human rights in a cultural relevant context. In other words people may be made to believe that ‘human rights laws’ are a western creation when in actual fact ‘UBUNTU’ and ‘HUMAN RIGHTS’ are the same principles with different names.

So then what makes us have these very strong feelings of being different from other humans? Are we psychologically traumatised by our past experiences? What kind of healing can address the tensions that exist between these traditional identities? If I changed my surname and spoke the language of my supposedly opposition tribe would I then be more acceptable as a Zimbabwean? What makes people think lessor of other humans?

It’s time we seriously started seeing our differences as strengths not weaknesses, our strengths should not be based on our tribal identities, nor gender, nor race, nor disability, we should be able to complement each other where we are weak, learn from each other’s mistakes instead of seeking to justify who is to be blamed for what. Once we can start addressing our differences in a complimentary way we will be one step closer to creating a more resourceful borderless environment. We need to start bringing down all these imaginary boundaries if we are to develop a better global society.

Wind in the Mists

They say time waits for no man, 2010 for me has progressed at a blistering pace. It’s that time of the year when we take stock of our achievements throughout the year and analyse the areas that seemed to fall into a loop preventing us from progressing in a more effective way. Well with every review one needs to come up with a modified or completely new plan though the modification is always the first best steps as a lot of effort is already made on the initial ideas.

As an aspiring leader and a current observer and critic of government policy, I have realised from experiences shared by some of my political friends in government that political activism is not the same as politics in government. It’s more complicated when one takes over from a cleaned out government reserve account where all credit lines have either been exhausted or simple not there because of various political reasons. I have learnt that in any entity when you are dependent on a third party for financial support, be it donations in kind , AID packages or loans you have very little control in what you can deliver, as delivery is solely based on meeting the demands of your partner investors. But then can we say all avenues have been extensively exhausted or has the GNU tried to cherry pick their preferred investments based on perhaps pre-agreed arrangements which were never a part of the GNU but perhaps part of one political party’s goals.

One of the things that stood out for me in the past year is coming to grips with the influence politics has on a lot of Zimbabweans, I think in the whole world Zimbabweans are now probably the most politically literate population in the world. However this literacy does not translate progressively nor make them champions in resolving political differences as we have seen how we have gradually become like another Palestinian cause, the difference being the varying levels of violence used to influence political control.

In every socio-economic and political environment there is always the good and bad side of development. I think for those who were in Zimbabwe before elections they can agree that there have been some visible changes brought about by the GNU partnership on the economic and political front to a particular level. Never the less more could have been done in terms of policy change and implementation in areas agreed in the GPA agreement, perhaps it’s time to review the process and see where tighter controls can be introduced for the purpose of measuring service delivery by those appointed into positions of responsibility and authority.

Looking at all the changes that took place I still fail to understand why the dual citizenship issue to facilitate the return of externalised Zimbabweans back was never prioritised and aggressively pursued by all political parties, special interest groups and lobbyist. I feel government could have temporally authorised it pending the completion of the constitution making process as this could have necessitated the recreation of a stronger middle working class. I think also when looking at reviews (if it happens) it will be important for leaders to try and look into ways of addressing the question of non-partisan enforcement. I believe the GPA is flawed as it blindly promotes the control of the security services based on the political party power structures, by effectively agreeing for an opposition political party leader to control the security services it made them more political than non-partisan. Perhaps we should ask independent external experts to come help with the reform the security services as was done in the first years of Independence where we had Pakistan and Tanzanian Commissioners coming to help with management of senior positions over a 2 year period.

Besides all the challenges government has been facing the greatest of them all is ‘US!’ the public’s attitudes to development. The sad truth is we have been brought up in a culture of dependency where we expect everything to be channelled from government and have focussed most of our attention based on expectations of a political solution to our problems. I think we must only expect government to complement our ideas not expect ideas from government. There is a saying …

“God helps those who help themselves”

It is fair to say that God’s (Allah, Jah, Almighty, self-etc.) help is more likely to be effective if you are earnestly trying to do your part to help yourself. And sometimes, God can't EFFECTIVELY help a guy who's working too hard to unhelp himself.

The true goal of human life is happiness, peace, satisfaction, fulfilment, well-being, enlightenment. So, the best place to apply the principle "God helps those who help themselves" may be in the emotional/psychological aspect of life. There we find the most direct and powerful impact on personal happiness and well-being. And there can be no doubt that God is more interested in SPIRITUAL wealth than material wealth.

So I challenge you to write down what you have achieved in the past 2 years, then write down what you plan to achieve by the end of next year. Make sure you keep that note safe, treat it like your most treasured item, pull it out this time next year and review and see how much from your plan you achieved. Remember achievement does not have to be material but could be simple kicking bad habits or changing the way you communicate with other people.

“I wish you all a happy and peaceful festive season and all the best for the coming year!”

Welcome to Afrikoncepts

Afrikoncepts.com

Afrikoncepts Limited is a social media consulting, administration, Logo-Banner design and Blog customisation company.

What do we do:

• General Analysis and Social Marketing Integration
• Social Media Strategy Development and Execution
• Daily Social Media Management Services
• Blog customisation using Word Press, Blogger Tumblr and Posterous
• Basic logo and banner design for social network advertising
• General Strategy and Social Marketing Integration

Proper integration of all aspects of marketing and messaging with clear objectives, target audience and flow are essential for optimal performance and ROI within social media marketing.  Currently, few individual components are in place leaving a significant opportunity for unified and consistent messaging, as well as the need for significant upgrades in digital marketing norms, resulting in opportunity to connect and engage customers.

Afrikoncepts also provides strategy, development, consulting and administration to bring all aspects of social media and traditional marketing efforts into alignment with unified goals and purpose.

Social Media Strategy and Execution

We believe the proper and effective use of Social Media is to build community, conversation and relationships with your audience. There are significant opportunities for you to achieve gains within this medium. Currently, you are probably missing most social components, thereby forfeiting opportunities to engage potential clients, prospects and fans.  Furthermore, there are significant opportunities to optimize existing marketing and branding efforts to leverage those social components to attract additional prospects, customers and revenue.

Through consulting, strategy and executing in cooperation with your clients, Afrikoncepts will direct the proper implementation of Social Media channels that will further build the brand, loyal customer base and community.

Afrikoncepts Limited is a registered company. Registration Number 07273520.