THE BEWITCHED NATION

By Rev. Joseph D. Chaikatisha
Scholar of African Religion

There are nations where citizens do not merely suffer under bad leadership; they are slowly conditioned to defend it.

In such a nation, it is almost as though a political spell has been cast over the people—not witchcraft in the literal sense, but a dangerous mixture of propaganda, fear, patronage, misinformation and blind loyalty that makes otherwise reasonable people stop questioning those who govern them.

The greatest tragedy of a “bewitched nation” is not that its leaders make mistakes. Every government makes mistakes.

The tragedy begins when citizens lose the courage or ability to recognise wrongdoing simply because it is committed by leaders they support.

In the bewitched nation, yesterday’s injustice becomes today’s acceptable practice because the people committing it have changed. What citizens once condemned under one administration, they suddenly defend under another.

Corruption receives a new name. Intimidation becomes “maintaining order.” Political persecution becomes “enforcing the law.” Arrogance becomes “strong leadership.” Failure becomes “a work in progress.”

Those who raise questions are branded enemies, bitter citizens, opposition sympathisers or unpatriotic troublemakers.

That is how political witchcraft works.

It does not require charms, potions or incantations. Its strongest instruments are propaganda, selective outrage, fear, misinformation and political patronage.

A population can be manipulated until people begin celebrating decisions that injure their own interests. Citizens struggling to buy food can still defend economic mismanagement. Young people without jobs can attack anyone questioning government performance. Communities lacking medicines, decent roads, clean water or opportunities can still praise politicians simply because they belong to the “right” political camp.

At that stage, politics has ceased to be rational.

Loyalty has replaced judgment.

The most dangerous leaders are therefore not merely those who commit wrong. They are those who successfully convince citizens that wrongdoing becomes righteousness whenever it is committed by their side.

Such leaders understand an important political weapon: control the interpretation of events and you can sometimes control how people respond to reality.

When prices rise, blame somebody else.

When promises fail, blame the previous government.

When critics speak, question their motives rather than answering their arguments.

When institutions raise concerns, intimidate or discredit them.

When supporters misbehave, remain silent.

When opponents make the same mistake, express national outrage.

Eventually, inconsistency becomes normal.

WHEN POLITICAL LOYALTY OVERRIDES CRITICAL THINKING

In the bewitched nation, even educated people can surrender critical thinking at the altar of political loyalty.

Professionals who should know better become defenders of contradictions. Religious leaders who should speak prophetically become praise singers at political tables. Intellectuals who should interrogate power discover sophisticated vocabulary for defending the indefensible.

Worst of all, ordinary citizens begin fighting one another while those in authority remain comfortable.

The poor quarrel with the poor.

Neighbours insult neighbours.

Families divide over political parties.

Citizens attack fellow citizens for demanding accountability.

Meanwhile, those controlling political and economic power continue enjoying privileges unavailable to the very people defending them.

That is perhaps the greatest political spell of all: convincing suffering people that the person questioning their suffering is their enemy rather than the system responsible for it.

A healthy democracy must therefore teach citizens one fundamental principle:

Never surrender your conscience to a political party.

Government must be questioned regardless of who occupies office.

Wrong remains wrong whether committed by the ruling party or the opposition.

Corruption does not become acceptable because the corrupt person belongs to our political camp.

Police brutality does not become justice because its victim supports another party.

Economic hardship does not disappear because government communicators insist that everything is progressing well.

And incompetence does not become excellence because thousands of supporters applaud it.

CITIZENS MUST RECOVER THE COURAGE TO SEE

Citizens must recover the courage to see.

They must judge governments by measurable realities: the condition of hospitals, schools, employment, food prices, justice institutions, public debt, corruption, infrastructure, human rights and the dignity of ordinary people.

Leaders must never become objects of political worship.

Presidents are human beings.

Ministers are human beings.

Political parties are human institutions.

They can be wrong.

They can become arrogant.

They can abuse authority.

They can mislead citizens.

They can fail.

And when they do, patriotism requires citizens to say so.

The curse upon a nation is not criticism.

Criticism can save a nation.

The real curse is silence when injustice becomes normal.

The real curse is celebrating the oppression of political opponents and expecting justice when your own turn comes.

The real curse is defending corruption because the corrupt person belongs to your tribe, church, party or region.

The real curse is losing the ability to distinguish loyalty to a government from loyalty to the nation.

Governments come and go.

Political parties rise and fall.

Presidents enter office and eventually leave.

But the nation remains.

Therefore, our highest loyalty must never be to individual politicians. It must be to truth, justice, constitutionalism and the common good.

THE QUESTIONS EVERY CITIZEN SHOULD ASK

A bewitched nation begins to recover the moment its citizens awaken and ask simple questions:

Is this right?

Is this just?

Is this constitutional?

Is this helping ordinary people?

Would I defend this same action if another political party were doing it?

If the answer to the last question is no, then perhaps what we are defending is not principle but political blindness.

And no nation can prosper when its citizens have been trained to close their eyes while applauding those who lead them toward the cliff.

The spell must be broken.

Not through violence.

Not through hatred.

Not through tribalism.

But through truth, courage, independent thinking, strong institutions and relentless accountability.

For the greatest defence against political witchcraft is an awakened citizenry—a people who refuse to surrender their conscience, their reason and their country to the mischievousness of those temporarily entrusted with power.

— Rev. Joseph D. Chaikatisha
Scholar of African Religion