We need a brave leader with a big heart

A Kenyan on social media the other day was harshly critical of the Nation, accusing us of doing propaganda for a corrupt regime and darkly threatening that one day we shall be requested to account for our sins by the public and other journalists.

I think he is a well-meaning guy, expressing honest outrage at what he accurately sees as the cancer of corruption destroying his homeland and I don’t mind that he doesn’t allow us what I think is our due credit for exposing a whole load of corruption. I want to assure him that there is as much graft going on as he imagines; there is perhaps more corruption than he can imagine afoot, certainly enough to give us a scandal for the front page of the Daily Nation every day for the next one year.

But the truth of the matter is, in the midst of the corruption, life happens. And life too deserves coverage. Even in a corrupt system, some things work. Many don’t. We are doing journalism in a developing context, there are no Western spies waiting to press secrets into our palms; we report what we can find out on our own against all odds and the Lord have mercy in your soul if you print what you don’t have a Canterful of documents to support.

Corruption scandal

Every time a reporter slips a notebook into his/her pocket and goes after a big corruption scandal, he/she is like a little scavenger fish cleaning the teeth of a mighty crocodile, trying to discover a way to slay it and delivering a series of little bites on its gums and throat. Journalism alone can’t end corruption in Kenya; we need the help of every citizen and in one morning we can start the healing. Then you can come to my house and ask me to account for my career.

Which brings me to the third, and final, part of a series of columns about Kenya’s future, or whatever is left of it, and what we can do to salvage it. 

This is my personal opinion as a citizen of this land. My own view, after being around for a while, is that we are running out of time. Covid-19 has taught us that we are a society that is not going anywhere fast. We are stuck at the bottom of the pile. We have what most African countries only dream of: a large population of reasonably well educated, hard working, smart, young people. We are not putting them to good use; we are frustrating them by denying them opportunities and outlets for their creative energies.

We need a good leader. We need a leader with a demonstrable level of integrity, not an angel, but a woman or man with limits. One who does not have an insatiable greed, a mania for stealing and accumulating without a thought for consequences. One who has demonstrated that he/she can be guided by public and not cartel interest in taking decisions.

We need a leader who has held a job. It would be really useful if he/she has shown a capacity for hard work, can wake up before noon and has a normal attention span. Career politicians are great, people who have climbed the ladder of a lifetime unemployment, no-need-for-employment or under-employment perhaps through no fault of theirs, are inspirational. 

But this time let’s just do someone who taught, managed a business unit, ran an institution, designed stuff, built things, flew planes and so on. Under no circumstances should we even dream of electing someone whose career was making money out of the government. People who have lived off the public all their life are probably great, but not this round.

Government experience

We need a leader who has clear freedom from cartels. And the biggest cartel is Kanu. If you served in Kanu, it is your turn to be benched. We must break the curse of 100-year Kanu rule. “Kenya A” have had a shot at it and we have seen what their efforts have come to. We thank them for their service. Now let us try the so-called Kenya B, the hoi polloi, the working classes, the poor, those who can’t tell polo from posho.

We need a leader with strength of character. We are difficult to govern, sometimes lawless even. We are like a cow that is a young mother, difficult to milk. We need to be led, not with dictatorship, but with a firm hand. We don’t need a buffoon; we need a leader who knows his/her mind and is quite prepared to face us down. Some government experience is useful; we certainly don’t want a greenhorn who will be overthrown by the politicians within no time. We need a person who is effective and with enough government experiences not to be ran rings by crafty civil servants.

We need a leader with a good, confident mind, one who is at home with conceptual thinking and is not intimidated by big ideas; a man or woman who has a philosophical bent and accepts that action is guided not by money, tribe or reward, but by ideas. A person who is fired by the idea of nation, prosperity for the majority, national prestige and pride, a leader who accepts sacrifice as reward for service.

We need a leader fiercely driven by the need for unity and genuine equality of all citizens, one who venerates the rights and benefits of citizenship.

We need a leader with a heart. 

Let’s get a good leader and the rest is a walk in the park.