THE LEADER KENYA NEEDS

From whichever angle one looks at the Kenyan political crisis, it is difficult to miss the gaping hole of leadership. Every five years in general elections and during bi-elections we are given a chance to elect members of parliament to represent us and, most importantly, a president to offer ultimate direction for Kenya. It is evident that, given the current definition of what Kenya is, we have failed to choose the right leaders to deliver what the citizens of this great nation need.

Before discussing what I consider the necessary qualities of the leaders we need urgently as a nation, let me mention four problems that continue to make us choose the wrong leaders or, as the case may be, the right leaders but who are quickly swallowed up into a leadership style that excludes accountability to the people. For these three problems, all of us voting Kenyans are responsible.

First, we have repeatedly failed to look critically at the people we choose to represent us. We do not ask the question, who is this man or woman that is going into government to lead us. Does he/she have what it takes to lead, or does he/she need to be led in order to put his/her life in order first? Does this person demonstrate at all the ability to be seen as a leader in his own house, his company, his institution or even in the community? Do we know whether he/she was a good prefect during high school or college days, whether he/she has succeeded to lead others in the church or mosque, in the municipal council or whatever other setting where he/she played a leadership role? Because of failing to examine those we choose at this level, I believe that we have always ended up with the kind of leaders we have in our country; people who have not been tested and proven in the pre-parliament areas of responsibility.

Second, we have
Reduced politics to economics. In other words, money/materialism defines and shapes how we vote and how we judge a successful politician or leader. The man or woman who gives the most money, foodstuffs, clothing or some other amenity during the pre-election campaigns becomes the darling of the voter. In this way, the voter is compromised in that he/she is reduced to a kind of indebted victim. At this point, we never ask how this person attained what is now being generously dished out. Even if the person has been a pauper among us but suddenly has bundles of money to give out freely, we never ask how he came by it. It is no wonder that when such “leaders” are accused of stealing money through fraudulent means, it does not bother those who elected him/her. When accused of serious scandals, instead of those who chose the person learning the lesson that this was the wrong person or that he/she is embarrassing them as a set of voters, they defend him/her because they “ate” from the person before the elections. Yet, ironically, the same voters will complain when the first agenda in parliament becomes members voting to increase their salaries and allowances. This is how we end up with leaders who do not know what it means to go to bed having eaten nothing, or dying from cholera because there is no clean water or hospital nearby to go to. A good leader is the one who is filthy rich so that he/she can occasionally visit the constituency and dish fifty thousand shillings for a school project, contribute twenty thousand shillings at a funeral service, OR buy one hundred loaves of bread and ten bottles of Quencher at a tournament. This, to the average Kenyan, is the leader we want.

Thirdly, our politics is not issue-oriented. It is tribe-oriented. We do not ask what someone seeking votes stands for and whether there is evidence that he/she can deliver what is promised. Instead we ask, “What clan is he/she from?” “Where does his wife or her husband come from?” or “Does he/she speak our dialect?” In our politics, it is near impossible to have a Kalenjin stand for a parliamentary seat in Embu or Nyeri. A Luhya or Kisii cannot yet be chosen to represent the people of Ukambani or the Miji Kenda Kayas. A Kikuyu cannot yet be a member of parliament for Garisa, Eldoret East or Turkana Central. Ironically, we admire and celebrate the victory of Obama in the US.A. as something beautiful or as the victory of the son of the Kenyan soil! Yet still, there is not missing the element of some Kenyans who frown at the same victory of Obama as that of a “Luo”; never mind that the only Luo Obama may have in his vocabulary may be “Ero kamano!” (Thank you!) perhaps learned in preparation for his visit to Kogelo where he was born.


We admire peace, harmony and coexistence but do not consider these values as something a leader who represents us must be seen to defend. We will defend “the man from our tribe” whether he/she stands for the destruction of the water catchment areas and the eviction of “foreigners” from their homes built among us. As long as the person comes from among us, he/she is considered to be ok, right and defendable. Before leaving this point, let me mention that, it would seem to me, this is the same mistake that will be made by us when voting in a person because they are either Christian or Muslim by profession or association. Once again, we fail to ask what they stand for.

Lastly, we often do not look at posterity when choosing our leaders. We hardly ask if choosing a person will prepare the future for us and our children. Instead, we think of what we will gain from them in the present. We do not choose leaders who have our children in mind, but those we think have us in mind. We do not choose leaders who can secure the future of our country, but those who secure their own individual futures, not even those of their children. For this reason, we often end up with leaders that exploit us and our resources in order to feast like ticks on us and our economy. They will loot the national establishments that took years to build in order to amass fortunes and then borrow and get all of us and our children into debt without a thought about how our children will get out of it all. They will make agreements that are tantamount to selling our country to foreigners without thinking about how our children will undo such mistakes. In short, we choose leaders that live for the “now” and not for “tomorrow.”

So let us ask the big question. How do we ensure that we have the right leaders in Kenya who will deliver what we and the nation at large needs; leaders who respect and reward the people of Kenya and who are visionary in their leadership?

EIGHT QUALITIES THE COMING LEADERS IN KENYA MUST PROVE THEY POSSESS

The next time you cast a ballot in a bi-election or a general election, the next time you choose a civic leader, the next time you think of your spiritual leader, please, please, please – I beg you – kindly ensure he/she possesses at least the following eight qualities:

1. Must have a stable family.
By “stable family” I do not imply a wealthy or poor family. I am referring to a family that is together. I am talking about a nucleus family that stands with the particular leadership candidate in every way. If someone does not enjoy support from the immediate family, how could such a person probably convince us that a family of over thirty million can be led by him/her! If I come from a family where my wife does not support or respect me or listen to me, where my children are unruly and I am unable to do anything about it, how might I convince anyone that I could bring together a constituency, province, political party or country for that matter? The analogy is simple: If I cannot drive a small personal or family car, why would you entrust me with driving a school bus? If I cannot pull a home together – an institution that is closest to my heart – why would you believe that I can pull all of your homes together? Besides, how can I be free from being pulled down by the possible shortcomings or even breakdown of my own domestic situations?

It is time, fellow Kenyans, to choose proper family people who also defend family values. The family is the basic institution of humanity. You can go to all the colleges you want, possess the greatest credentials, have the loudest voice, have the biggest bank account, but if you cannot lead your own home and defend family values, I do not want you for my leader. You do not know how to lead.

2. Must be patriotic. – When I was in elementary school, my History teacher told me that a patriot is “a lover and defender of his/her country). I like that definition. How would you like to be led by someone who loved a different country more than Kenya and always felt he was born in a wrong society, having been born here in Kenya? How would you like it to be led by someone who always spoke more highly of the values of other countries and made you feel anything foreign was always better? How would you like to be led by a person who, in political rallies always made reference to you and I as “you Kenyans” or frequently used expressions such as “the problem with Kenyans”, as if to imply he/she is not? Is someone feeling me? Have you not come across the jargon of “Kenyans are just like that” or “Kenyans are corrupt?” Never “we are” or “you and I are”. The problem of Kenya is always that of other people, not them.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the next time you choose a leader, you do not make the mistake of choosing someone who does not see themselves as Kenyan. A good Kenyan leader must be willing to identify with the country and all it stands for; its successes and failures. I like a little passage in the Bible book of Hebrews 11 from verse 24 following. In that passage there is a discussion on Moses’ decision to suffer with the Israelites than to enjoy the temporary pleasures Egypt offered. It says that Moses “refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son”, the very royalty. The leader you and I choose next time must be a “son or daughter” of the soil to the extent that he/she is ready to “kula taabu”) eat trouble) with you and I. Only such leaders can stand up and refuse to sign contracts with foreign countries, agencies and companies, if such signatures demean, devalue or literally “sell” the citizen and the resources of Kenya in return for personal gain. As fellow Kenyan, let me ask you, and, please be honest with me to the bone: How do you feel when you think of a hotel like Grand Regency being sold secretly to foreigners without Kenyans being given a chance to buy it? What do you feel when you think about the fact that a Kenyan wanting to broadcast to Nairobi cannot get a radio frequency from CCK, but China Radio International, Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Radio France International, etc can? But, if this is way out there for you, picture this: I go into a restaurant for a meal and make an order. Five minutes later, a man from Europe or Australia walks in and orders the same thing. The waitress near-scolds me for my order and does not clean up the table. When the “Mzungu” comes, she is all smiles, puts own school-learned etiquette and serves the man before me. Here, although we are not dealing with patriotism per se, it still comes in. The same thing is to be seen whether you are dealing with a government office, immigration counters or a queue at the bank. If we know anyone with this kind of mentality, we should never choose them for the position of leadership.

3. Must be educated. – The matters that affect us as a people require that any leader we choose is capable of comprehending and evaluating attending issues. Take parliamentary proceedings for example. If members of parliament begin to debate a boundary dispute between Kenya and one of her neighbours, how might you like to be led by someone who has no idea of what pre-colonial boundary demarcation is all about. How might you like to be led by someone who does not know anything about the peoples of Kenya or the provinces that make up our land? It is my view that any leader of Kenya must possess at least some form of university education. This is because, part of the definition of the word “university” is “unity in diversity.” The many disciplines of knowledge meet at such an institution. A university student, though subject to specialization in what he/she studies, is exposed to and interacts with other students who study different things and have different opinions. Hence, other than acquiring various strands of knowledge, a university graduate has a broad mind and can envisage other people’s opinions. Your leader and mine should possess the ability to look at a Kenyan problem and read it in the light of the various fields of knowledge or consult sufficiently to make informed decisions. Do you want to be led by someone who lacks this strength?
4. Must be well-travelled. – A good Kenyan leader must have an idea of what the country he/she is participating in or ultimately leading is like. In order to serve the people, whether at constituency or national level, a leader needs to be able to compare the area he leads and read its history and geography in the light of other parts of Kenya and, if possible, the region and/or the rest of the world. It is my insistence that any leader who has not travelled has a narrow perspective in the solution of problems. For instance, only a leader in Kenya who has travelled to South Africa, Addis Ababa or the West can have the passion to do something about the road network in our country. Without such travel, one will always think it a big achievement to have a one hundred kilometer stretch of tarmac. Similarly, if one had the ability to travel around Kenya, then one would be able to celebrate the diversity of the land and the beauty that would naturally heighten the level of patriotism.
5. Must possess observable integrity. – Perhaps this is the most crucial element in looking for a leader. Part of the dictionary definition of the term “integrity” is soundness of moral principle and character and includes uprightness and honesty. A leader of integrity has good conduct both in private and in public. Such a person does not need to persuade us too much to be chosen as a leader of the people. The Swahili language has an interesting saying in this regard: “Chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza.” (A good thing sells itself, but a bad thing markets itself.) Right here, let us note that if someone tries to convince us to choose them either by mere words or resources, automatically he/she should get disqualified. How would you like to be led by someone who was not trusted as a good custodian of the family resources or someone who is known to be a thief? If we know someone is a perpetual liar, does not keep promises or use respectful language, what makes us think such a person will take care of us? What if someone is unfaithful to his wife or husband but is entrusted with making legislation on family values? How about choosing someone who celebrates pornography or has CIBER cafes that do not restrict it being in charge of media laws regarding what our children should or should not watch? How about knowing that someone stole school money when he/she was a school bursar or as the treasurer of a self-help group but is chosen to be Kenya’s Minister for Finance? We admire people of integrity. Why don’t we choose them?
6. Must possess good judgment, seasoned speech and compassion. – A good leader must be able to make clear, considered (well-thought through) and fair decisions; must not be rash; must not be seen to be partial except for the truth. Such a leader must also choose his/her words when speaking because words can unite or divide, heal or hurt. He/she must be a good communicator so that he/she is clearly understood. This is the only way we can begin to run away from leaders who make irresponsible utterances and then keep shouting that they were misquoted. Leaders who are always talking above people, belittling others or clearly displaying pride and prejudice, anger or timidity; leaders who have no courage must not be elected. Similarly, a leader who feels nothing for the people he/she leads does not qualify to lead. He/she needs to be led.
7. Must possess a national outlook. – This is one of the greatest weaknesses we have observed among our leaders in the country. Most of them have a tribal inclination, desiring to propagate the interests of a narrow group of people. Let me be understood here. When one is elected to represent a constituency, geographically this may mean that he/she represents people of a particular community in parliament. Nevertheless, this is not a license to be parochial and tribal to the point of inciting your own people against others who do not originally hail from the constituency. We must constantly remember that Kenya is a society of immigrants who settled in Kenya from other parts of Africa. Ethnic violence assumes that we do not need each other or that we are better than others. A leader who promotes this kind of narrow-mindedness must be shunned and denied votes or nomination. We all need each other and must see our diversity or the way we live and do things as a means to enhancing others and not taking advantage of them or destroying them. The culture of tribalism that negates the nationalistic outlook on Kenya is also responsible for people clamouring to go into office for the wrong reasons. Michela Wrong, a journalist, has summed this well in her critical book, “It’s Our Turn To Eat” which, in part, portrays our society (and rightly so) as one desiring to grasp power in order to concentrate national resources in the hands of the tribe. We have come a long way as a nation as to realize that this is destructive and has led to violence and unnecessary power struggles. Anyone who persuades us to vote along these lines must be denied the votes.

8. Lastly, the leader we choose must be godly and humble. I have saved the best for the last because this is the quality we should be looking at as paramount and must never be forgotten. A person who reveres God recognizes his/her limitation and can seek help easily. He/she can better fulfill the leadership role ultimately remembering that he/she is answerable to a higher power. There is a standard to guide such a person, e.g. the Ten Commandments and respect for the sanctity of life. Such a person can be corrected because they realize they can be wrong. A godly person admires righteousness, justice, purity, love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self control, among other virtues. This is a good leader.

If anyone embodies at least these eight qualities, let us rush to rally behind him/her in the next small or big election. These are the leaders who will move us to the Kenya we want.