Often times, people ignore the lessons of the past and this usually end badly. History has shown us that when leaders become too comfortable with their power they begin to forget where power emanates from. Thus they begin to say and do things which are contrary to why they are leadership.
The past is replete with examples of leaders who became so powerful – or thought they became powerful – to an extent of invincibility. Most often than not, such leaders ended up losing that power in a way that was totally unexpected.
This is the lesson taught by history, especially when it comes to democracy. The real power in a democracy lies in the hands of the people who vote for the leaders. Sometimes, these leaders turn out to be somewhat overconfident in their powers; forgetting that one person with a marble is the reason they are in office.
When this happens they begin to act anyhow without keeping in mind the interest of the people. The individual then becomes too small to stand in front of them and speak. Thus, they worry not when they trample over the rights of these ordinary individuals.
When they mount the podium and begin to speak, cheered by the crowds, they completely forget about the ordinary citizen, imagining him to be a powerless and non-consequential individual. They are so carried away that what they say become totally irrelevant or unacceptable in a democracy.
Following the protests and arrests of protesters against the sale of the forfeited assets of former president Yahya Jammeh, a minister of state made a speech in which he went as far as calling for the arrest and handcuffing of opposition party figures such as Essa Faal and Rohey Malick Lowe becase those two visited the protest.
This is unheard of in a democracy! Public officials must always keep their cool and remain measured in their utterances. Statements like these can backfire and cause untold damage to elected officials.
