Leadership will set us on the path to growth or ruin

Last year was a tough one for Kenya and the other 194 countries. Two major causes of the world’s socio-economic disarrays are the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. There are fears that the worst of health and economic effects of Covid-19 have not yet peaked.

Now, Kenya is a country of cautious yet optimistic people. But our citizens are becoming frustrated, making us what Thomas Friedman called “frustrated optimists.”

The US Department of Homeland Security usually says, “If you see something, say something”. Kenyans have seen and heard something. They have seen headlines in the local press. “A messy Xmas; The Christmas of fear and optimism; Election cases set to shape 2022, success; MPs engage in fistfights over political parties Bill, 2022. The year of big battles; more Kenyans sink into poverty and starvation; Tough year for broke universities; KCB gets nod to auction City Hall in Sh4.3 billion row; Three power failures strike Kenya in 24 hrs; New year of pain for tax payers as State pile debts; High cost of living torments Kenyans; Four in 10 Kenyans can’t pay house rent; Kenyans suffer as Ukraine war hits food prices”.

What are these things Kenyans are seeing hiding in plain sight and affecting their future? What we are seeing hiding in plain sight are the effects of the five challenges confronting Kenyans today.

How Kenyans address them will define the nation’s well-being. We are seeing a country with Olympian standards in the world of marathons falling into what Prof Ali Mazrui described as “The paradox of maladministration, retardation and technical backwardness”.

The causes of our economic and political troubles arise from poor leadership, politics and economics. The Sun or climate change is also there.

Our quality of life depends on the quality of our leaders across all branches of government and the private sector. One person who is effective and courageous makes a majority. Leadership is contagious. In most of the world’s nations, the people are asking the same questions: “Where have all the leaders gone? Why do great leaders appear an endangered species?”

The very purpose of elections is to enable the country get great leaders who espouse values of courage, temperance, justice and wisdom.

How effective Kenyans are led in this 21st century of “clever, cheap genius societies” is the number one determinant of our future greatness.

Now, why do countries with similar conditions achieve amazingly different development outcomes?

Some nations build durable, efficient and secure states while others become fragile, mixed in poverty and violence. Thus, it’s now the accepted view that better political governance is the key driver of any nation’s growth and progress.

The writer is a strategic management consultant