African politicians are mortal like everyone else

When the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently announced that she was stepping down, it was not only a shocker to many but also came peppered with an apt soundbite, reminding all of us that 'politicians are human'.

Of course, this is a seemingly obvious but often widely forgotten or ignored fact. Not just by we, the voters, but also by the politicians themselves.

As a result, the political leaders often find themselves in tight spots, caught in between steeply unrealistic expectations of the electorate and their own feelings of invincibility and generous doses of self-belief. For us, on the other hand, we find ourselves in an endless series of heartbreaks and character development sessions with hopes raised and shattered.

That is the reason our leaders would rather be seen as super-human and will unlikely admit infallibility like the rest of us. They will never admit to not having an answer to the many questions that confront them. Faced with a situation, they would rather shoot and point later, instead of asking for time to regroup with the coterie because they have to be seen to be all-knowing. They sacrifice all they have and even give out the last coin because that is what is expected of them, and they do not want to fall short.

This is what has rendered many politicians broke because they do not want to admit that they cannot afford to shoulder the electorate's issues. Because of all these feelings of having superpowers, it is very unlikely that any of our elected leaders could decide to step down because they do not feel like they 'have enough in the tank'. On our side of the world, leaders would rather die in office than walk away from their elective positions when, for whatever reason, their tanks are running on empty.

Often, in the unfortunate cases where ill health or effects of old age render a leader incapable of functioning optimally, this is not considered grounds enough to resign. It is the last thing on their minds - they would rather struggle in office than admit to failing health.

In fact, such cases of illness are shrouded in top secrecy and will never be admitted. Stories have been told of unfortunate cases where a leader passes on while in office, and it is made to look like they are still in charge.

The kitchen cabinet and hangers-on do not make this any easier by cheering on the supposed infallibility. Some divine proclamations will be added in to make it look like they are the chosen ones.

Drunk with all this praise-singing, the leaders will be sent into a trance. Yet. the day we all admit that our leaders are just human, things will get a lot easier, not just for them but also for us, the electorate. They will see no need to lie and pretend to be able to do stuff they do not even understand and might need time to consult and think through before coming back with a plan.

Neither will they see the need to make lofty promises and roadside declarations because we will be prepared to wait for a better, more realistic plan thus keeping them honest.

For the rest of us, accepting that our leaders are human too, will spare us the heartbreaks from unfulfilled promises. We will not expect too much from them and will help them stay true by questioning and rejecting promises that do not make sense. We just need to make peace with the fact that leaders are not omnipotent.

We should accept that they will not have a solution for every issue under the sun. Besides, we should not get offended when the leader admits that they have no solution for an issue and retort 'what do you want me to do'. At the end of the day, these ladies and gentlemen are flesh and blood - as human as all of us.

@butunyi