Sudan crisis shows there’s no such thing as real power
The stepping down of former Sudan president Omar al-Bashir strips naked the overrated thing called power. It robs it of its beauty and admiration and reveals how political trap power can be.
We all agree that at a basic level, our leaders need some form of power in order to lead. They need the power to influence, to command the army, to develop the nation, etc.
Varys tells Tyrion, and rightly so in George Martin’s book, A Clash of Kings (a song of ice and fire) that power is a curious thing, it is a mummer’s trick, a damned riddle and a shadow on the wall.
Hasn’t al-Bashir been an epitome of power for 30 years until the other day? Yes. He has successfully defied ICC summons. On that account, he too must now be puzzled and unable to explain what power is exactly. Let’s get back to the fundamentals: Power belongs to the people and they only lease it or lend it to their leaders. And when these leaders act in forgetfulness of how borrowed this power is, they become demi-gods - one day they behave like kings.
But that is until the people who are the owners of this power reclaim it or take it back. At that point, the leaders have perchance forgotten the basic concept of power. That power is but an element entrusted in a leader by the people, who can always choose to change the custodian. In essence, therefore, leaders do not actually have power.
They are are only an embodiment of people’s power. Power is a trap; an illusion. If enough people believe that power resides in a person, then it does. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
Edwin Mugumya,
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