By Sara Imutowana Yeta II
POLITICAL ISCARIOTISM
Judas Iscariot was a shrewd member of Jesus’ inner circle.
He betrayed Jesus, his master for 30 pieces of silver, and he is roundly condemned for his perfidious actions.
However, in practice, Judas is the most celebrated disciple for his bravery to do something other disciples would not do.
In a deft manner, he single-handedly came up with a scheme to betray Jesus, and alone executed his scheme.
Absolutely no person in Jesus’ inner circle suspected Judas’ scheme. Even Jesus was only aware of Judas’ plan because he was God who knows all things – the past, present, and future, or else, no one including Jesus would have known Judas’ master plan.
Like other disciples, Judas spent time with Jesus and listened to him all the times as he preached about the kingdom of God, and watched him perform miracles.
Even with first-hand experience of Jesus’ works that brought hope to the hopeless, Judas was not moved by anything.
His ability to stay with Jesus for years and remain unmoved is startling. More than that, it can only take a special spirit for him to give Jesus a kiss; sign of love, when he was carrying hate, betrayal and death in his kiss.
Indeed, Judas had a spirit of Iscariotism; the spirit that makes people think they are wise and brave when in actual sense they are foolish and unethical.
Judas’ selfishness was epic, he was all set to cut short Jesus’ mission for self-gain. In Judas lived a ghost of Iscariotism.
Elections time reveal to us how Judas is celebrated among politicians. He is a patron saint of politicians who are proud of keeping up his legacy by betraying their political associates.
I am thinking of the likes of Charles Kakoma and Geoffrey Mwamba who were in a political relationship with Hakainde Hichilema for some time.
Both, their words and actions promised Hichilema an unwavering political bond. They talked, hugged and worked with Hichilema as if it was from their hearts.
Then, unexpectedly they broke up with Hichilema, and without delay, their political support pledges to the Patriotic Front (PF) were openly announced.
It is stunning how these characters did it with easy and without shame. More surprising is how they worked with Hichilema and kept straight faces when they were scheming a political break up to join PF a party they denounced as corrupt.
Judas must be proud of the many Kakomas and Mwambas in our political landscape able to walk around well packaged making people think they are principled politicians.
Nobody would ever believe that the priest-like Kakoma and the holier-than-thou Mwamba would leave UPND to join PF.
Of course Kakoma and Mwamba have democratic rights to join any political organisation, but that does not change the fact that they represent many politicians who are masters of the skill of pretense, false holiness, false ethics, false integrity and false loyalty because their hearts are controlled by the spirit of Iscariotism; self-gain.
Looking at how politicians betray their associates for personal gain, surely Judas must be proud of these politicians for taking his legacy to another level.
Who else can be a successful mentor to politicians that in spite of the time Kakoma and Mwamba spent with Hichilema, they remained unmoved by the national cause for development for all people Hichilema expounded?
Hichilema should set the bar higher to scrutinize people around him because he may be surrounded by a lot of Iscariots not interested in the common good but self-gain.
Iscariots should be kept far away from party leadership but instead work with people with strong convictions; who mean what they say and do what comes from convictions they espouse.
If it means remaining with a few people, let it be so as long as the party is led by people with integrity.
The party needs leaders able to stand upon strong convictions without wavering from them regardless of prospects for self-gain, and the party is not short of such.
Leaders who cannot look beyond themselves can leave the party if they wish. In fact, this will allow principled leaders whose actions are guided by values and consistently live their values in a transparent manner to come in.
It does not pay to go for either loud or quiet voices when most of these are voices of self-centeredness, power, wealth, and greed.
Until we have reliable leaders, the party will continue to be led by Iscariots with no intention to serve and no idea of the bigger picture, and it is difficult to win elections with such characters.