Some citizens, bruised by poverty and chronic hunger, now find themselves recruited by the very politicians who keep them trapped. For crumbs, they are paid to insult critics, attack perceived opponents, and defend a political order that humiliates them daily. It sounds irrational, yet it unfolds in plain sight.
Is this loyalty? Not at all. Loyalty demands dignity and free choice. What we are witnessing is survival politics—hunger deliberately weaponised. When survival is uncertain, tomorrow’s meal can mute yesterday’s injustice. Add fear, misinformation, and ethnic or party sentiments, and people are manipulated into fighting those who genuinely seek reform.
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The cruelty runs deeper. The architects of suffering turn their victims into instrumental shields against accountability by deploying them to distract, intimidate, and confuse. It is a grim form of modern-day slavery, repackaged in party colours and political slogans.
Yes, hunger plays a role. But so do decades of broken institutions, eroded trust, and stolen hope. This is a system engineered to keep citizens divided, dependent, and perpetually unsure of who truly serves their interests.
Until citizens are empowered both economically and mentally, this vicious cycle will persist. And that, more than any campaign speech or party manifesto, is the real indictment of our politics.
Written by Festus Edovia, anipr, ficm.
