THE DANGER OF LOYALISM AND PATRONAGE IN THE MOVEMENT It is of enormous importance that we sketch a paradoxical contrast in a manner which loyalism and patronage has shaped the content and form of contemporary politics, the purpose of this article is to examine and give extrapolated political fluctuations underpinned by blind loyalism and patronageous political order.
There is a lot of comprehensive panoramic catalogue of political scenarios that gives an observation of the blind loyalism and patronage as a danger in politics that involves state power, however, I’m not going to give an account of all events underpinned by this political network because of space and time, but I should be able to make comparisons or perhaps references to certain specific events in the political discourse about this subject matter coupled by its dialectical, dynamic characteristics and repercussions thereof in relation to organizational integrity and efficient state or governance operations to deliver to the nation. Blind loyalism and patronage as a network of interrelated bond of individuals in the political space has a great potential of undermining the value systems and traditions of the organization set to elect or nominate leaders on the basis of impeccable credentials they possess to occupy certain positions of responsibility for the advancement of organizational objectives that should be attained, rather people lobby and elect individuals to be at the helm of the organization so they can process their selfish narrow interest of looting state resources once they are deployed in government or to any state apparatus. After the success of the patron to occupy strategic position in government has to respond to the theorical-grounded patronage framework which has a lot of promises to be kept as soon as state power has been usurped i.e. give jobs to those who are loyal to you in the public institution through partisan rather than meritocratic criteria so they can continue being loyal to you and defend you in the movement so you can continue to remain in power for a continuous and consistent program of looting state resources and perform other maladious ends. The book of John P. Willerton titled “The elite, patronage and Soviet politics” says: The arena within which political elites operates is dynamic and insecure. It is structured by varied formal and informal mechanisms that ordinarily guide and moderate the behavior of politicians as they compete and promote their interest. He further says political patronage can be defined as an informal network of personal, political relationships which are at the same time both asymmetrical and interdependent. They are informal mechanisms that provide security and direction to the career ambitions of nation’s political elite. The environment in which politicians operate is uncertain and hostile. It often entails a zero-sum contest among members of the elite. In this settings politicians first concern is to minimize losses not maximizes gains. A major means of minimizing losses and securing ones position is through the formulation of coalition’s base upon reciprocal relationships. Relationships that already have been tested and developed of time. The book gives interesting observations of the danger posed by loyalism and patronage in any movement and its features. John P. Willerton gives another contrast of patronage that: individuals with career aspirations often advance within a political system on the basis of their ties to politicians who posses power at high levels of authority. And also says patrons are able to strengthen their own political positions by appointing those loyal to them, usually those who have already worked there are taken to positions at lower level. There is an understanding that this framework is not always beneficial as it could very well produce tensions which might undercut the loyalty of network members and thus weaken the patron-loyalist bond. And such fluctuations will have a direct impact both in the proper political management of the organizational affairs and the effective running of government, so it is important to at all times guard against such tendencies for the sake of survival of the movement for many years to come, the movement which we inherited from our forefathers with absence of this political malady. The danger of loyalism and patronage by and large produces a lull and limited creativity in the movement on the basis that cadres who possess comprehensive political understanding with regards to articulations of policies of the movement censor their original views because of fear of contradicting or stand in conflict of the patronage-loyalist bond missions and ideals that has nothing to do with measured debates the well being of the organization but boss-individual accumulation at all cost at the expense of the movement. This political malady is evolving with times and it continues to hegemonizes and manifests itself in various forms and it is now a culture that has typified itself within the political orientations towards the political system of the movement in the contemporary politics and it needs comrades to raise their political consciousness and defeat this demon for the sake of the organization, allegiance of citizens and members of the organization in general, we must raise above and protect the complete integrity of the organization from individuals who are perpetuating this network of patron-loyalist framework for crass materialism and accumulation at all costs as fundamental features of the network in question which underpins direct and deliberate collapse of the value system of the movement and dignified good governance. In conclusion, we must wage a relentless struggle to defeat this system and find new men and women who are stoical and prepared to serve the movement within the confines of comradeship and respect of organizational principles, value systems and norms which has kept the movement in existence for many years, and also chief among the prerequisites of this new men and women it should be their readiness to subordinate their personal interest to those of the movement, the interests of the organization must always come first before those of individuals. Tsekiso Machike is a member of the District Executive Committee member of YCLSA in Ephraim Mogale and he writes in his personal capacity Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. 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