THE GAME OF POWER: A TACTIC FOR EXTENDING CONTROL IN A CRUMBLING ECONOMY

When a leader comes to power without real authority, the path ahead is uncertain. You might be holding onto power, but it is fragile. Just like the rare rains in a desert, your rule is weak and unpredictable. The economy around you is falling apart due to bad management. The country is not growing, and everything seems to be stuck. In such a situation, how do you make sure you keep your position?

As a leader, you may look for strategies that have worked in the past. You may want to repeat actions that helped you before, even if those actions were not good for the people. You might use tricks that give people hope but really keep you in control, while hiding your true intentions.

A strong example is the chaotic land takeovers that happened before. This plan took advantage of people’s feelings. It was supposed to give power to the people, but it led to big problems. Even though the country has some of the most fertile land, food became scarce after the land was taken over. This land used to feed not just the country but many other nations. Now, it struggles to produce enough food for its own people.

The problem is clear: The people could only get the land with help from the ruling party. In 1999, a new opposition party was formed. This new party offered a different option for people who were tired of the ruling party’s failures. The opposition party threatened the ruling party’s control, especially because the economy was getting worse. To stop the people from supporting the opposition, the ruling party used populism to create a distraction. This helped hide their mistakes and win back support from war veterans and others who were frustrated.

What was really at stake was the ruling party’s control. The ruling party had lost the trust of the people, which is not surprising. The people at the top of the party were corrupt, and they knew that if they lost power, they would no longer be able to take advantage of the country’s resources. So, they pretended to care about the people’s problems while secretly tightening their grip on power. Their goal was to stop any loss of control that would threaten their corruption.

New ideas like “Vision 2030” were introduced. These were big, exciting promises, but they were mostly empty. Other plans, like the national recolonisation program and the anti-transition destabilisation program, followed the same pattern. They were just like the land takeovers—big ideas that sounded good but were not really helpful. These ideas were meant to appeal to people who did not know better, giving the ruling party more time to continue its wrongdoings.

In reality, these strategies are like balloons full of air. They may look big and exciting, but they have nothing inside. Their only purpose is to distract the people and keep the ruling party in power for a little longer. The party wants to continue its corruption and exploitation, and these empty promises give them the chance to do so. Real change is not the goal; staying in power is.

In conclusion, when leaders do not have real power, they might look for old tricks to stay in control. These tricks often involve making big promises that are hard to keep. The real goal is to buy time, so they can continue their corrupt practices. But in the end, these strategies do more harm than good. They only lead to more problems, keeping the people in poverty while the leaders stay in power.