The King's Diary: Gongo la Mboto

Dear Me,

What a terrible and shocking incident. Apparently my Kingdom does not need terrorists to blow people up. And what a bad timing. It disturbs me that this tragedy coincides with the upheaval in the Arab Nations. I fear that if I do not placate my people soon they might exploit this event to revolt and create havoc.

To immediately defuse people’s anger I will tell my secretary to call the media to tell them that I intend to visit the site of the explosion. Expressing sympathy to victims makes for good coverage and is likely to boost my popularity. This may not be enough, though. People are really irate: I’ve been told that calls for demonstrations are circulating already.

After the attacks in the Great Nation, their Leader called for a War on Terror. It boosted his popularity and eventually brought him his re-election. I wonder whether I could follow this example. Would it be possible to initiate something major that secures pleases ordinary people? Something that can be done without spending too much: after all we remain broke.

Hmmmm. What about a Responsible Citizen campaign? One element could be an investigation into what happened. I could use it to clean up of the military. If I blame the incident on less loyal elements, I could even use it to expand my power base. Yes, let me form an investigation committee, led by staunch supporters, with a mandate to make heads roll.

In addition I could opt to bring improvements to ordinary people’s lives. If I harness citizens own efforts and address issues that require mostly coordination, it will not have to cost much. And the TKP can easily provide coordination as the 10 household system has the capability to bring people together. It has not been used for this purpose but being the King I could order all 10 household leaders to organize their people. Initially the people could be enticed to donate blood for the victims. Later, the Campaign could expand to include monthly environmental clean ups, maintenance of drainage systems or pothole repairs.

Nice, I like it. Zero cost changes that boost my position and improve the lives of ordinary people. This tragedy might have a silver lining after all.

February 18, 2011