Reasons Why Leaders Fail to Protect the Interest of Their Followers – SS2 Civic Education Lesson Note (First Term)

Leaders fail to protect the interest of their followers when pressures and personal motives come before the needs of the people.

Behavioural objectives

1. State reasons why leaders fail to protect the interest of their followers.
2. Explain how godfatherism and the high cost of campaigns affect leaders’ behaviour in office.
3. Describe how the poor financial attitude of electorates and election rigging lead to neglect of followers.
4. Suggest ways of controlling leaders who fail to protect the interest of their followers.

What are the key terms?

• Leader: a person chosen or appointed to guide a group, community or country, such as a councillor, governor or president.
• Followers: the people a leader serves, also called the electorate when they vote.
• Interest of followers: the needs of the people, such as security, water, roads, schools, health care and jobs.
• Electorate: all citizens who are qualified to vote in an election.
• Godfather: a rich or powerful person who funds a candidate and expects favours in return.
• Electioneering campaign: the activities a candidate carries out to win votes.
• Recoup: to get back money that was spent.
• Election rigging: cheating in an election so that the real wishes of the voters are not followed.

Why do leaders fail to protect the interest of their followers?

There are six main reasons: party interest, godfatherism, selfishness, high cost of campaigns, poor financial attitude of the electorates and election rigging.

1. Party interest

• Pressure: party leaders and members demand that the leader satisfies the needs of the party first.
• Threat: a leader who refuses may be frustrated out of office by the party.
• Result: the leader serves the party and gives the people less attention.

2. Godfatherism

• Meaning: godfatherism is the practice of rich or powerful persons sponsoring candidates in return for favours.
• Origin: many leaders come to power through the money and influence of godfathers.
• Agreement: some leaders promise to keep servicing their godfathers until they leave office.
• Effect: money meant for public projects is diverted to settle these godfathers.

3. Selfishness

• Greed: some leaders want to satisfy their own interest first.
• Neglect: they do not respond to the yearnings of their followers.
• Example: a leader who builds a private house with public funds while the town has no clean water.

4. High cost of electioneering campaign

• Nomination forms: the fee for party nomination forms is expensive.
• Publicity: printing posters and handbills, and advertising on radio and television, cost a lot of money.
• Recouping: the leader wants to recover the money spent before thinking about the followers.

5. Poor financial attitude of the electorates

• Vote selling: many voters collect money from candidates in exchange for their votes.
• Assumption: after winning, the leader feels the people have already been settled with the money collected.
• Result: voters lose the moral right to demand good service.

6. Manipulation of election results by leaders

• Rigging: leaders who emerge through rigging did not get to office through the votes of the electorate.
• No accountability: such leaders feel they owe the people nothing.

What is the summary of the reasons and their effects?

Each reason shifts the leader’s loyalty away from the people, as the table shows.

What are the results of leaders neglecting their followers?

Neglect of followers leads to poor services, poverty, loss of trust, apathy and unrest.

• Poor services: roads, schools, hospitals and water supply are not provided or not maintained.
• Poverty: public money is wasted or stolen, so the people stay poor.
• Loss of trust: citizens stop believing in government and politicians.
• Apathy: many people stop voting because they think their votes do not count.
• Unrest: anger and protests may arise in the community.

How can leaders who fail to protect the interest of their followers be controlled?

Such leaders can be controlled by action from voters, government, parties and other bodies.

Measures by voters

1. Voting should follow personal conviction. Voters should refuse money from candidates.
2. A non-performing representative should be recalled.
3. Citizens should collect their permanent voters’ cards and vote in every election.

Measures by government and parties

4. Transparency, probity and accountability should be promoted at all levels in the conduct of government business.
5. The cost of nomination forms should be reduced and made affordable.
6. Public offices should be made less attractive, and allowances and salaries should be reduced. This will enable people who have the interest of the masses at heart to seek public positions.
7. Electoral offenders, such as rigging officials and vote buyers, should be punished by the law.

Measures by other bodies

8. Electoral commission: it should organise free and fair elections so that leaders owe their positions to the voters.
9. Mass media: radio, television and newspapers should report the actions of leaders to the public.
10. Anti-corruption agencies and courts: they should investigate and punish leaders who misuse public funds.
11. Civic education: schools and civil society groups should teach citizens their rights and duties.

What do recall, transparency, probity and accountability mean?

These four terms describe the main ways of keeping leaders answerable to the people.

• Recall: the right of voters to remove an elected representative who is not performing, before the end of the term.
• Transparency: government business is open to the public.
• Probity: honesty and strong moral principles in handling public funds.
• Accountability: leaders must explain and answer for their actions to the people.

Evaluation

1. State four reasons why leaders fail to protect the interest of their followers.
2. Explain how godfatherism prevents a leader from serving the people.
3. How does the high cost of electioneering campaigns affect a leader’s attitude to followers?
4. Explain how vote selling weakens the right of voters to demand good service.
5. Mention three measures that can reduce the neglect of followers by their leaders.

Assignment

1. State five ways to control selfish leaders in a state.