True Colours Magazine

Stuck in the trenches

You stood firmly with the party when it mattered most. In the difficult days, you fought in the trenches—mobilising, defending, enduring insults, and sacrificing time and opportunity—convinced that loyalty would one day be recognised. When victory finally came, you waited patiently, confident that your turn would come.
The appointments took longer than expected, but you remained hopeful. Surely, dedication would not be forgotten. Yet when the lists were eventually announced, your name was nowhere to be found.

Still, you did not despair. Government, after all, is vast. You reassured yourself that it was only a matter of time before something suitable would open up.

Weeks passed. Then months. The opportunity you anticipated never arrived. Instead, you watched the news with growing unease. A minister’s cousin was appointed to a board. Another minister’s brother found himself in charge of a procurement unit. Even harder to stomach was seeing individuals who had openly aligned themselves with the previous regime—some of whom had been openly hostile to your party—now walking hand in hand with your former contacts, picking up contracts here and there. People you once stood with could no longer even consider you, even when the roles were well within your competence.

Seeking clarity, you reached out to your connections within the inner circle. Your calls went unanswered for weeks. When you finally got through, you were told they only had two minutes. You made your case briefly. The response was curt and dismissive: form a cooperative and access Constituency Development Fund (CDF) resources. That was it. No conversation. No recognition. No appreciation.

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but loyalty, it seems, often counts for very little once power has been secured. The harsh truth is that it is not what you know, nor even who you know—but how useful you are to those you know.

As the saying goes, palibe chako—there is nothing for you.
It is a painful lesson, but sometimes the reality is unavoidable: things will not always go your way, no matter how hard you fought or how much you sacrificed. In the end, you are on your own.

You either remain stuck in the trenches, or you carry your own cross and move on.

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