Jobseeker’s Diary

When I was about 5 years old, my half brother came to live with us.For some reason, I never liked him right from the start and we were always fighting. I felt my dad loved him more and though I know better now, back then, it bothered me. I remember one time my dad came home with roast maize (of all things). It was only one piece (again, I wonder why). Of course both my brother and I wanted some and so my dad broke it into three parts for the three of us. He took the biggest and my brother and I realized the other two were not the same size. None of us wanted to take the smaller part and so my dad ‘hatched’ a plan to solve the dilemma. He asked us to close our eyes and then concealed the two pieces with saucers. We were to pick a saucer each and whatever was underneath is what we would take. I chose the one on the right. It was the small piece and I immediately threw a tantrum. I felt cheated and at that tender age, I thought my brother had been favoured because he was older than me. The Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange reminded me of that incident. The deal has unfair written all over it and makes you wonder whether there’s something we’re not being told. I’m glad Shalit Gilad is free but you also have to think about the people who lost their parents, spouses and children and now have to deal with the fact that some of the perpetrators of those attacks have been freed. Although one of the Palestinian ex-prisoners said he wouldn’t fight again, some others said they would continue to fight the occupation, meaning they will pick off where they left. It would be a sad day for Israel if rather than the peace and reconciliation hoped for; these people orchestrate more terrorist attacks. Another reminder of unfairness for me is Liberia, well not just Liberia but every country that has to undergo a runoff election. Like the electoral reforms in the DRC stipulate, why can’t whoever garners the most votes carry the election whether they hit the 50 percent mark or not? Runoffs are a waste of time and resources. It’s hard enough to get people to vote for anything and if you have to rally them to vote a second time, be sure some of them won’t want to queue up again. There’s also the fact that though there are those diehard supporters who will stand by you no matter what, some voters are like impulsive shoppers. Considering the politics of vote buying where things like soap and petty cash are all it takes to secure votes in many parts of Africa, don’t be surprised if someone who voted for you only weeks before switches camp to the candidate who gives him or her their next kilo of sugar. And then this whole idea of having 15 plus candidates is also troubling. I believe every right-thinking person can tell who’s presidential material and who’s a joker so let’s not waste our votes on those. Last but not least, he lived by the sword and died by the same. I said it before that I liked Muammar Ghaddafi at one point but the more I got to know him and the atrocities he committed, the more my admiration waned. Even then, I feel kind of sad that his life ended the way it did. But he brought it on himself. He had all the time in the world to get away but he chose to fight even when it was clear he wouldn’t win. Some people feel cheated and would have preferred a trial and a long-term jail sentence for the colonel, a.k.a ranting king. Guess it’s too late to wish for that. To be continued…