Politics Is Policies and Programmes, Not Closeness to Power

By: Kexx Sanneh

I don’t know whether the way I see politics is different from others or something else. For me, joining a political party has to be centred on sound policies and programmes for the progress of the country. That should be the foundation in politics. And once you have identified the party whose policies and programmes you genuinely believe in, you should be committed. As long as those policies and programmes do not change, you should continue to support that party.

Policies and programmes are not negotiable. It is basic political sense. A political party exists to advance certain visions for how a country should be organised, how resources should be distributed, what rights should be protected, what institutions should be strengthened.

But I see a lot of young people moving from one party to another and then to another, chasing numbers, chasing closeness to power, or choosing a candidate who might win. They shift with every wind without any direction, policies or programmes.

For me, joining a political party is not all about winning the election or my candidate becoming president. It is not about crowds or demonstrating strength. Those things may matter tactically, but they are not why I am in politics, and they shouldn’t be a determining factor.

I am in politics because of principles. I am in because of policies. I am in because of programmes. And if those are genuinely held by my party, I will not shift because an election was lost, or because a leader lost favour, or because another candidate appears more likely to win.

That’s my position, and perhaps if it takes 100 years to support that party for those policies and programmes to be understood by the majority or if it takes a century for that vision to gain traction, then I will stick to that party. I will continue advocating for those policies. I will continue building the intellectual and organisational foundation for those policies and programmes to one day take root.

That is what political commitment means to me. It means refusing the convenience of cross-carpeting. It means resisting the pull of closeness to power. It means believing that the work of politics is the work of building consensus around better ideas, not the work of being close to power, counting votes or chasing candidates.

In a nutshell. For me, politics is about programmes. Politics is about policies that will transform the country for everyone to live in dignity, prosperity and liberty. Everything else  the noise, the numbers, the closeness to power is secondary.

That is my position.