A few years ago, I was a local leader where I was in the counseling committee. We used to lead by giving orders and doing what we wanted, without thinking about giving an opportunity to citizens to share their ideas. After a while, I gave up because I realized that the way we were leading was not effective to the citizens, and we were not making any steps toward change.
One day, a man approached me and requested me to join their forum. After joining, I noticed a very big difference between the way we used to lead and proper leadership. In the forum, we used to sit and discuss hindering issues in the community and respected everyone’s ideas. The first thing I learnt in the forum is that a citizen should be engaged in the governance system, so as to own the imihigo and be willing to contribute to the implementation process.
When we think for others, and just decide for them, they don’t feel the ownership of what’s being done.
One of the achievements our forum contributed to is in the Girinka Program, where cows are supposed to be given to vulnerable people to improve their health. Leaders used to give cows to people they were friends with, or keep them for themselves. After discussing on this, we raised the issue and sought advice on how it could be done in a fair way. Using these steps produced positive results because now decision making is done in an inclusive way where citizens are first consulted before deciding who deserves the cow. This motivated citizens to attend and participate in the communal activities as they know that they will be given a time of sharing their opinions. This also increased the trust between citizens and the forum.
Being in the forum has helped me a lot; it broadened my mind because on different topics we discuss. I now know that I have to contribute to the welfare of a citizen through governance. When a person is well governed, he feels safe because he is sure that the leaders are protecting him. If I could meet the founder of NAR, I would thank him for bringing such an impactful initiative breaking the negative barriers for attaining peace through good governance and citizen participation.