Base honours on merit
What you need to know:
- Having athletics legend Kipchoge Keino, ageing former freedom fighter Gitu wa Kahengeri and the youthful international award-winning teacher Peter Tabichi is quite inspiring.
The council will require a full-fledged secretariat to document and ensure that all people deserving national honours get feted.
The establishment of a National Heroes Council is the best answer to the past complaints about lack of transparency in the identification of the people who deserve official recognition for their contributions to the country’s socioeconomic development.
Whereas some are clear-cut decisions, such as the feting of Kenyans for their achievements in sports, or contributions to development, academics and other facets of life, the list of national heroes and heroines sometimes raises eyebrows.
Through the new council, it should be possible to vet and ensure that only the people deserving those honours receive them. Recognition of the valiant and creative efforts of Kenyans can boost patriotism. This is why it must be done properly so that there are no doubts at all as to their suitability for those awards. Others can then see why they should strive to emulate the good deeds.
The choice of the membership of the first council inaugurated last month confirms the desire to pick the very best. Having athletics legend Kipchoge Keino, ageing former freedom fighter Gitu wa Kahengeri and the youthful international award-winning teacher Peter Tabichi is quite inspiring.
While the Kenya Heroes Act was assented to in 2014, it had not been operationalised. Proper criteria for selecting and recognising national heroes have now been established.
This vital national duty will no longer be left to the whims of a few politicians and administrators to conjure up the names of national heroes and heroines without any clear guidelines. It should put merit before cronyism.
Of course, it is going to take a little longer to fully dispense with the past hang-ups and begin to entrench a solid new culture of transparency in building an unviable heritage based on the pursuit of meritocracy. The council will require a full-fledged secretariat to document and ensure that all people deserving national honours get feted.