When I drive, I am generous in offering rides to strangers but always with certain safety rules. I never stop for beautiful women, young people or adult men. My usual passengers are mothers with infants or the elderly. That is how, not long ago, an elderly woman leaning on crutches stepped into the backseat of my car. By the time I dropped her off, I realised politics lives in the daily struggles we carry.
She was remarkably talkative. In the two hours before I let her out, I learned that she was 73 years old, that all her children had passed away, that a motorcyclist had left her with crippling leg injuries and that she now lived with her brother. She also held strong opinions: today’s women, she said, lacked the qualities of trustworthy wives. When a love song came on the radio, she joked at the singer’s plea not to be abandoned: “She will probably leave you!”
Her views on politics were no less blunt. Other than hinting that government once treated the elderly better, she voiced an outright dislike for politicians – some of whose names she could not even pronounce. She offered no details, only a firm insistence on her disapproval. Listening to her, I concluded that anyone hoping to stay sane in politics might do well to wear earplugs although in reality, shutting out criticism – even when it lacks specifics – is counterproductive to achieving political goals. Random conversations like this often expose the real concerns that lie beneath a seemingly calm surface.
The woman I drove may not have the vocabulary of policymakers – terms like stakeholder engagement, policy alignment or risk mitigation – but she could speak vividly about her daily experiences with governance. Her remarks were clearly shaped by her life: the loss of her children, the accident that left her disabled, and her present dependence on others. When we suffer personal loss, it is natural to assign blame to whoever or whatever stands before us. In her case, the struggles of living with disability may also explain her complaint about inadequate care for the elderly.
Politics, she revealed, is not simply theory, an -ism attached to an ideology; it is lived reality. It determines welfare, healthcare and even survival.
Many years ago, I asked a journalist from a neighbouring country whether her compatriots trusted their leaders. She replied without hesitation: “Absolutely not.” I cannot conclude that this is the case in Tanzania today. Yet the discontent hinted at by a 73-year-old woman – unable to fully articulate her dissatisfaction – suggests that there is still work to be done.
Politics demands leaders remove earplugs, hear the articulate and help the inarticulate voice their struggles and challenges.
