I was rushing the other day in Port Louis, terribly annoyed, because I was running late for an appointment when somebody I didn?t know grabbed my arm. He had something ?important? to tell me, he said. Much as I wanted to, I had no choice but to stop and listen to him. Desperately trying to get away, I kept trying to interrupt the flow of words that came my way, to tell the man I was in a rush and really had to run. Eventually he got the clue and let go of me and I sprinted.

But something he said stayed with me until, a few hours later, it finally hit home. ?What is the point of having ministers? All they do is stop the machine from running smoothly because they need to show people they are working!? the man had angrily spat at me, asking why ?you journalists who write about everything don?t write about this??

Good question, huh? Why do we not write about ?this?? But write what? Especially since there are good ministers and downright crap ones. And to what end? What do we do, just get rid of ?bad? ministers?

But when the anonymous man from Port Louis asked whether ministers in actual fact weren?t more hassle than they were worth, he did have a point. Some ministers usually tend to think they know better than the competent technicians or other staff at their ministries. They think this because their status as a ?honourable? minister goes to their heads.

They think this because they have to justify why they interfere in matters where they do not have any business interfering.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt sorry I didn?t have time to ask the angry man what he thought the solution was. Clearly we couldn?t just neatly dispose of them so what do we do? Get rid of the red, blue, green, yellow and white ones and replace them by the orange and purple ones?

Because hey, the orange and purple are itching to go and sit in those chairs behind the big tables behind the heavily guarded doors in the tall buildings. They would love to sit in the big comfortable cars and be chauffeur-driven. They simply cannot wait; how else would you explain all those mind-numbing public gatherings they hold practically everyday?

I saw an MSM poster advertising for a public meeting and on it was written: ?We do as we say.? How?s that for desperate? Translated, it means, ?Please give us another chance, and make us ministers again!? The MMM is no different. They are promising whoever is listening that they will create a ?second economic miracle? whatever that means. This is MMM lingo for ?me! Give it to me!?

Sad, huh?

And you know what makes it sadder? The fact that general elections are scheduled for 2010. That?s in three years.

So anonymous man, that?s why. That?s the point. And this is the best I can do.