Conversation Space with Honourable Margaret Mensah-Williams
We were delighted to welcome our guest leader Margaret Mensah-Williams, deputy speaker from the upper house in Namibia to the Conversation Space. A long-time member of this community, Margaret attended SLP in 2009, then returned the following year as a guest speaker. Last autumn she brought her dynamism as participant in SLP Module B in London.
12 leaders signed-up (from India and Azerbaijan in the East, taking in four African countries, also Mexico and the UK) and you sent in five questions to fuel the dialogue. A smaller group actually assembled on the day for a really interesting and intimate exploration of a leader’s journey from a small village to being an activist in national government.
Here is a precis and the full sound file go to the end of this blog. 
Tony: How would you introduce yourself here?
Margaret: I always describe myself as Margaret the girl from a small dusty town whose people moulded me. Seeing black people working as slaves without names shaped my approach. Whether you are president or someone sweeping the floor you are equally important. You should not be judged by your ethnic group. That is who I am and the soul of me!
Did your career follow a linear course? (sent in by Marc Mgbe Iyawa, Cameroon)
Margaret: No. It is a passion you have inside, in my case for human rights. I’m a teacher by profession who also worked in housing and community development, then doing an MBA before entering parliament. I believe a community education makes you strong – no one at university can give you this! But you also have to freshen yourself up and that brought me to SLP.
What were the impacts of SLP? (sent in by Marc Mgbe Iyawa, Cameroon)
Margaret: I went into these courses saying people are not ordinary. Someone at BC approached me when I was getting the anti-rape law passed and, wearing a see-through top, prepared to get thrown out of parliament if necessary! I must tell you I was very negative on the course at first. People had told me the British are the oppressors. But I really changed how I think and act. It was like I was cleansed from within.
Tony: And here you are today in dialogue with three British men! In what sense do you say you are a leader?
Margaret: I learned on the courses with BC and Middleground that the distance and angle you take as a leader is your “perspective”, and that if you think the people are there for you then your angle is wrong because you are there to serve them. I also learned that what leaders do must not be ordinary but exceptional, and I learned that leaders must hold their assumptions lightly.
Dr Colin Jacobs (British Council): “Holding it lightly” – what do you mean by that?
Margaret: I mean in life it is easier for someone to make an assumption without finding out the deeper roots of it, for instance if I go into a meeting and just assume ‘top down’ that everyone speaks English, and secondly that they can understand what they are saying. If I see a woman walking I should not assume they are looking for a tap, I should find out why they are walking so far. The assumption is rude and I might find out they are walking to network together and they enjoy walking.
Colin: In the UK people are getting disenchanted with leaders in parliament. Is that also the case in Namibia, and what is your perspective?
Margaret: I agree totally. Coming into parliament I found politicians with absolute power and that corrupts. Someone once said government should be a mirror that is reflecting the national soul. But a lot of politicians reflect just a greedy soul. With 30% of young people unemployed and many living in shacks, laws are being made for the politicians not for those we serve. Politicians can easily take knock backs for themselves, and copy what previous politicians did. They worry about looking intellectual and being convincing, but with that they trample on people. They feel too high to attend courses, as if they are experts in all fields.
Tony: We also received a question from Sandeep Silas in India on this topic. John could you help us think about the question of political leaders?
John Bazalgette (Grubb Institute, UK/global): My experience of education in most parts of the world is that it is oppositional. How is the furniture in your parliament arranged Margaret? And from your position as deputy speaker, are there some ways you can intervene against corruption?
Margaret: We have all sorts of measures. MPs declare their assets and interests once a year. If they are late they are being banned for a few weeks. And we have various courses. For example last week, for the Standing Committees a lawyer came in and gave them visual shock treatment with a picture of dirty shacks without running water, then asking them what does the constitution say about their oversight function. This let us ask what is the budget we need to pass and what is the programme of activities we have to do. They were enabled to change the way they think, and to call minsters to account. We also have a 5 year strategy, an Audit Committee, a Rules and Privileges Committee. After attending SLP I am pushing the Women’s Caucus Standing Committee, also the Rural Women’s Parliament (with men as partners). They bring issues and motions. They summon para-statials and banks to account to them. Then members take their learning back to their provinces. Because of the way I was trained through SLP I played a role in pushing these things creatively. That’s a legacy I am leaving.
John: Thanks that’s really interesting. At first you drew attention to codes of conduct, and actions you are taking related to control. Later you brought out the leadership part, and acting with integrity. In the UK we re seeing 45% of the population engaged in controlling the other half, rather than leading them in a vision of a society with well-being, healthy and creativity.
Margaret: The best laws are useless if not implemented, so we reach out, for example to women in the north who are married without their choice, and to face the big problem of gender-based violence which brought us 6 women killed in 6 days. Wrongly they call this ‘passion’ killing. I think Umar notices faith-based organisations have a role. We need healing. My BreakThrough Initiative is not fully implemented but we did made small in-roads. It addressed the problem of babies being dumped in the toilet bowl. Instead Window of Hope is a refuge where young women bring their unwanted babies to be adopted.
How can the new technologies such as Twitter and Facebook… help leaders?(sent in by Arturo Perez-Vazquez, Mexico)
Margaret: Radio is a very important tool. I also have 5000 Facebook followers and I interact with them. When we declared a state of emergency for the dumping of babies, our president called a national day of prayer. That’s a great impact!
Tony: Looking at our watches now, what can we each take away from this dialogue?
Colin: It reminds me of SLP. Margaret is a strong example of taking a stand. I want us to inspire others to operate like her. Today we’ve heard about adaptive learning, looking through the right lens, holding things lightly, trying to make a difference, and how living in a rule-based society distances leaders further from the people. I am interested in how to really engage people. John: Politicians often frame things in a conflictual way but you have showed us with babies how by looking at real issues you can do something really powerful in collaboration together instead of being oppositional.
Umar (MiDDLEGROUND): It gladdens my heart to hear the powerful questions you have been asking, and that you find the tools we give you from Middleground useful to bring about change. As each shares in this network then we all learn. We should do more of these!
Tony: I just want to play back to Margaret that you never felt like a minority, that you believe in community education, that leaders serve people not the other way, that a lot of politicians do not reflect the national soul, and that through your initiatives you are inspiring people to contribute and share the leadership…
Margaret: Thank you. It has given me a ‘reflect back’ on what I can change, and reminding me as leaders we must have our priorities straight and always have the needs of the people in mind. This networking today is valuable as it enhances the cooperation between us, and we should have more courses for politicians.
Conversation Space held 16th April 2014
Conversation Spaces take place bi-monthly with next session in June. Email Christina to add you to the notification list and please come along!
