THE dust is settling down as newly elected office bearers commence their tenure. It
is also time for the electorate to establish mechanisms for tracking promises and
pledges made during the campaign trail and what the new councillors or MPs will be
delivering for those who voted them into office.
During campaigning for the August 23/24 harmonised elections, candidates
promised to do many things if voted into office. Some promised to build schools so
that children, especially the girl child would not drop out because of the long
distances needed to travel daily to and from school.
Other candidates came into office on the back of promises to improve road
infrastructures, build bridges so that transportation and travelling would be easier for
people out in rural constituencies.
Yet others, promised clinics and expecting mothers’ shelters nearer to where people
live so that they would not need to travel long distances to seek medical attention or
for emergency services to reach where they are.
Now that the winners have earned their tickets to Council or Parliament, it is time for
them to demonstrate consistent commitment by reciprocating through uplifting the
condition of voters.
The promises were from those who won and those who did not succeed. Since both
sets of candidates professed interest in serving the people, those who triumphed
must start delivering. In fact, one way would be to draw up a schedule of which
promises are going to be fulfilled and the timelines for completion.
On the other hand, there is no reason why those who campaigned on serving the
people must park their pledges simply because they lost. The most effective way of
demonstrating genuine commitment to championing the interests of voters is to forge
ahead with the projects that candidates promised.
For the unsuccessful candidates, there is no better way of showing their commitment
than forging ahead with implementation of what they promised. In fact, it means is
that at the next elections, one would be campaigning on a stronger platform of
completed projects, schemes or initiatives while out of office.
When elections are held in 2028, voters will be in a position to audit and assess the
candidates’ contributions to transforming their lives.
Many of the losing candidates sunk boreholes, built schools and improved the road
network in their constituencies or wards. These initiatives need not be shelved now
that the elections are over. The best way to campaign for office at the next elections
is now.
Keeping a promise lays the foundation for trust and respect. When someone’s
conduct is consistent, others begin to develop trust. A campaign promise must be an
undertaking, a guarantee to voters by a candidate. However, deliberately making
false unachievable promises amounts to deceiving voters.
Campaigning on false promises is both immoral and irresponsible and such conduct
– in the long run – has a tendency of undermining credibility and trust in politics.
By tracking campaign promises of the successful candidates, voters will be able to
single out political opportunists. Such characters deserve to be punished at
subsequent polls.
