The new session of Parliament opened last Friday with a call by Vice-President Inonge Wina to members to work together despite their political affiliation.
The call would not have come at a better time than now. We have just come from a general election which was marred by violence and hate speech.
Mrs Wina’s statement is a call to MPs to put everything behind and put their hand to the plough. Now is the beginning of hard work.
During their campaigns they promised the voters what they would do for them if they were elected into office.
Each MP made these promises based on their party’s manifesto and we know that every manifesto is basically a plan of action that guides a political party.
Despite the political differences, every manifesto seeks to bring good to the people it seeks to serve.
It is from this premise that our members of the august house are being reminded of their role to the people.
During the opening of Parliament last Friday, Mrs Wina said MPs have a mandate to make laws and not to destroy the nation.
The House today, like before, is made up of members of different political parties with different ideologies but they are in the house for the purpose of making laws as a way of serving the electorate.
The tenets of democracy allow for different political parties and different opinions but this should not mean that members of those political parties do not see eye to eye.
As soon as they were elected, they became servants of the people who voted for them and so when they enter Parliament, they represent the electorate.
One of the basic functions of Parliament is to make laws. MPs, as representatives of the people, do this as they listen to the plight and challenges of the electorate.
Where the electorate want laws to be made to protect a given situation, it is the MPs who make representation in Parliament on behalf of the electorate. In this way, they are serving the voters.
Any selfless leader will always work for the good of the people, even if it means he stands to lose out on something. That is commitment.
Sadly, a number of leaders make a mistake. They fail to weigh the greater good of the people against their personal ambition, resulting in a selfish outcome.
And decisions that are made are intended for the people at large and any leader worth their salt is expected to go for what is good.
There are sacrifices for anyone who is a leader of the people. Sacrifice entails a loss on the part of the one who serves so that those he serves gain something for their own benefit.
Our leaders should see it from this light. They are part of the House and their mandate is to the people and not to anyone and this is the common factor that binds them together.
It is from this point that they should work together as those committed to a common cause of serving the electorate.
The electorate are looking up to their MPs to bring about development which they promised during the campaigns and this should be done now. Five years can pass quickly.
There are a number of projects which are still outstanding in constituencies and all eyes are on the representatives to source funding.
Some projects have not even been implemented yet while others are yet to be embarked on. There is no time to squabble but to embark on these projects and make their constituencies better than they found them.
We urge MPs to work for the people and guard against destroying our nation due to selfish ambition.
As leaders of the people, they have the responsibility to unite the nation and abhor all that promotes division and misunderstanding because their mandate is to the people.