Today we deal with part 3 of the bottom-up vs trickle down debate. To briefly recap the aim of part 1 and 2 of this thread was to highlight the following:

1. What are the problems that need to be addressed?
2. What are the viable solutions given the current state?

Economic models are only but vehicles which should be discussed after the above two have been addressed.

In the final part of this thread, we look at the importance of who is driving the vehicle. If you have answered question 1 and 2 and agreed the best vehicle (model) to deliver it, the question moves to who is driving the vehicle. A formula 1 car in the hands of an uber driver versus a formula 1 car in the hands of Hamilton will achieve a completely different results and the problem is not the car but the driver.

I had the privilege of attending the fearless leadership summit during the past week,

where there was a presentation of different leaders in their own right and space and the impact that they where making. The key take away for me from that summit which ties very well with this last piece is how a church in Uganda was able to scale and grow but with very few permanent members of staff. This brought out a number of key elements:

1. Leadership should bring in efficiency
2. Leadership is driven by service and not profit
3. Leadership without mentoring is half leadership

You might be wondering how does this tie to economic models. Governance has been defined as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social development”. The leaders we give power to determine whether there will be economic success or not, depending on how they use that power in the management of a country’s economic and social development.

It is in my opinion that if a country does not get the right leadership, execution of the solution to an identified problem with whichever economic model will fail. In Africa civil service is not driven by the desire to serve but to profit, people do not run for public office out of the desire to serve their country but as ways of making money and that is why we have rampant corruption.

Failure of institutions like parliament to legislate and be scored on the legislations produced whether they up lifted people out of poverty, safe guarded economic gains, liberty and freedoms rather than which MP gives the most handouts or has built the most toilets. Parliaments return to its core mandate is paramount as it sets the tone for all the other constitutional bodies as laws are the framework in which everything works or operates through.

Without proper governance there will be leakage of resources through two main ways:

1. Corruption
2. Misallocation of resources

The above two problem areas are not economic model problems, but are purely leadership problems. So as you choose your local member of parliament, remember its not the most eloquent, its not the one who pleases the crowds, its not the one who looks handsome or beautiful, it is the one who will be able to bring efficiency, service and bring up other leaders it should be the one who will exercise power with you in mind in the management of a country’s economic and social development.