Here's what's wrong with you and I

The campaign period leading up to Kenya’s elections has a penchant for intrigues and comedy in equal proportions.

The scene is raucous, confusing, the narrative riddled with the usual tribal and party politics.

As beleaguered as we are, we have been yearning for a revolution in the last few months, I thought that someone would take up this rallying cry and turn it into the blueprint for their aspirations' platform.

But no. All we are hearing is the same old rhetoric, less about leadership and more about ‘politricks’ which even though we declare we are tired of, we seem to keep falling back on as our default stance, maybe because we believe in better-the-devil-we know mantra.

The blueprint for political aspirations in this country defies all logic, conforming to ‘loudership’ more than leadership.

However, the power to change the trajectory lies in the electorate’s hands and not, as we seem to have been convinced, in the politicians’.

Over the next 15 months, a large number of countries on the continent are heading to the polls and therefore ramping up efforts towards underlining the importance of citizen engagement and participation in elections, with Kenya being no exception.

It is equally important, at the same time, to appreciate the political power that lies in the hands of the electorate, and just how impactful this can be, if harnessed.

There’s a significant advantage towards changing the narrative that has been disseminated, that of the voters being powerless and defenseless. I have said this before. Your vote is the single most powerful tool that you can use to exercise your choice, both during and after the polls.

Now, if someone approaches you and offers to line your pockets in return for favour when exercising your choice in a certain direction, whether overtly or covertly (aside from it being illegal) you will have your conscience to deal with.

However, the beauty of the secret ballot is exactly that, that you can exercise your choice in line with the conviction of your beliefs; which segues neatly into the significance of separating voting for personalities and for issues.

I know, it all seems idealistic to say that, given how immature our politics seem at most times. And we may never completely disassociate our decision making from the perspective of tribe.

However, at some point we have to come to terms with the fact that tribe does not always have to be as divisive as it’s been portrayed, and that the largely negative narrative has been abused by the politicians to whom it benefits most to get us stuck in the history of our last names and what part of the country we come from.

That is why it is so easy for us to turn against each other when pushed to the edge, mired in the belief that anyone who is not exactly like us is our enemy, instead of confronting the common frustration that we feel in failed leadership.

There’s this age old question of optics versus reality. Explained by the ‘halo effect’, we seem to be taken in by a perceptual bias where despite our judgement and logical sense we judge a book by its cover.

We presume that social likeability, wealth and opulence also equate superior leadership skills, kindness and strength.

There’s a difference between good presentation and oratory skills and true leadership capability, facts that, at various points in our lives we have all been guilty of confusing.

I forget how many times I have heard various versions of this argument. That because a certain candidate - presidential, ministerial, gubernatorial – candidate speaks a certain way, presents himself in a certain way he or she is more or less fit for political office.

Which is one of the reasons we keep making bad choices when choosing leaders; getting taken in by the promises they make, how convincing they look and act while making them.

Instead, we should be digging deeper into what their true character is, away from the spotlight of the media, the achievements we can legitimately attribute to them, who they were before they started to vie for political office.

Given that devolution has revealed just how lucrative holding public office has become, and where true power lies, public office has become a high stakes game.

Isn’t it time we made a concerted effort towards sifting through the noise in a bid to make decisions based on solid reasoning and not just the hype and conspiracy theories that have already started to take centre stage?

Granted, it takes a bit more effort to exercise judiciousness and judgment as opposed to public opinion, as to be discerning instead of believing everything that we hear.

But from where I sit, it is the only way we will be able to start the long journey towards inculcating the kind of leadership we desire.