Many districts have been busy this week filling vacancies following a string of mass resignations. It saw Mayors and their assistants calling it quits citing “personal reasons” but it is an open secret that they were nudged out for not fulfilling their duties by being allowed to resign. The leaders were given an honourable exit instead of being impeached. What is worrying is that the resignation virus attacked nearly every district. For some it came as a surprise hardly lasting several months in their posts, but for others, the writing had been on the wall for a long time. It is everyone’s hope that the new entrants will do a better job than their predecessors and will have learnt from their mistakes. Public service is not an ordinary office job, it needs dedication and passion, not pushing the pen from the comfort of their desks. They need to be constantly on the road seeing how best to serve the people they lead and ease the burden of the central government. But once a leader acts like a small king, gets out of touch with the populace, be sure “resignation” will come knocking. The Ministry of Local Government should also not wait for things to get out of hand before it acts. Many a times when the President visits upcountry, he is immediately received with complaints that local leaders, of even the ministry, should have addressed long ago. The newly elected leaders come with a breath of fresh air, energy and anticipation to do better than those they replaced. They should therefore no betray the trust bestowed on them.
