Now that you have have won the election

It was George Bush who was quoted as saying that a President should already have decided on what to do before being elected as the vagaries of the office and the challenges of the world leaves little room for un-meditated action. Wars will breakout, terrorist attacks will happen, natural disasters will occur and scandals will erupt. It is infact safe to also add that while you may know the what you want to achieve, you may not know fully the how as the context and players and resources will keep changing.

So before coming to power, you should have made a manageable list of what you want to achieve in the short tenure you have. You should have outlined the quick wins as well as the legacy achievements. When looking at legacy, it is important to remember that long lasting legacy is inscribed in the hearts of men and not just in atoms or bricks. Legacies must also be sustainable and make long lasting impact that will transcend your administration and last for generations. A flyover here and a bridge there pale in significance to a whole new way of funding infrastructure that ensures that average time to a health facility is reduced to 30 minutes irrespective of where someone is in the state. Paying off the accumulated pension pales into insignificance when compared to a pension reform that ensures that pensions are never owed again. As one commentator once said, the moment a government has to make a list of its achievements, it has failed because the people who were impacted are the ones to list those achievements. Remember, the problems are many and varied. You will not be able to solve all of them — so choose core foundational things that you can achieve within your tenure but which will leave an outsized impact on the state and her citizens.

While making the list, it is important to remember that people remember more how they were treated or how they were made to feel than what they were given. Making people feel proud, empowered, involved and included is something that people find hard to forget.

It is clear that as Governor your constituency is the entire state. Making your family or village or town proud is expected but that expectation will turn into a legacy when the entire state and beyond feel proud. Legacy is what makes people honour you in your absence.

Your first months in office will be spent trying to get a handle on the fish you have landed. Your constituency will however be on the look out to see that you will be different in some way from the previous administration. This is the time to grab those low hanging fruits you have already identified and to grab them in a manner that will signpost your administrations approach to issues. Campaign promises are campaign promises. Fulfilling them require intricate balance of resources and interests that can’t happen in your first 100 days no matter what anyone expects. Your first 100 days should therefore be about setting the tone.

If you had looked clearly, you would have identified some of the areas where your predecessor had lost the constituency. They were not inclusive and ran the govt on behalf of their cabal rather than the generality of the populace from consultation to execution. They were also not transparent in their dealings. They owed salaries and pensions. They couldn’t provide pipe borne water amongst other failings. They totally abandoned governance for politics. In your first 100 days initiate a public audit of these areas to establish what has been done and what has been left out with tight deadlines. Spend time going back on campaign trail to thank the people and also to mobilise them to participate in the public audit.

The biggest job of a Governor as much as it is for a CEO is to set the tone, to sell the vision and to mobilise resources. Selecting the team you will run with and being transparent about how you select them and who they are is also an opportunity to build credibility and to gain public support. Of course choosing your team without giving them both accountability and the power to execute your vision is also a good way to lose the plot. You will not deliver on your promises or vision neither will you endear the citizenry. In the final analysis, whatever good they do is attributable to you and whatever bad is also attributable to you.

So now that you have your certificate of return, the real job of governance begins.