Accessibility
A leader must be accessible. Not to hang out with but to be there whenever the led are hanging in a crisis- to bail them out...to give them solutions...to give them hope.
Humble persons are capable of fulfilling such a desire. Colleen Kettenhofen once opined, "An effective leader isn’t just some figurehead, whose picture they may see on a wall or website.
An effective leader is one who gets to know and understand their followers and is available to help overcome unexpected challenges, acknowledge their efforts, provide additional guidance when needed, and be the ultimate authority they turn to should they have a question or concern. You can’t!"
Accountability
READ MORE
What was discussed in DP Kithure Kindiki's first cabinet meeting
Co-op Bank third-quarter profit jumps to Sh19b on higher income
Every holder of a leadership position must be responsible and held to account for their conduct. They must be audited. No one is beyond reproach. No one is like the Caesar's Wife.
Corrupt persons shouldn't be given an opportunity to lead because they will cripple their jurisdictions via economic crimes. A good leader must be open to criticism and audit. Public interrogation should never be a nuisance.
When allegations are leveled against them, they should step aside to pave way for investigations. These kind of leaders are hard to get... Mwananchi has a tough task of identifying such... It could be through their track record and previous dealings. Jeffrey Benjamin once said that accountability is the measure of a leader's height.
Development
Every nation aims at increasing its wealth and rate of economic growth. This is possible through building sustainable infrastructure and superstructure.
Every leader who wants to assume elective office must have a clear blueprint that shows Wananchi what they would like to achieve, how and within what timeframe. It's unfortunate that only few citizens read politicians' manifestos.
They support them blindly. Kenyans must begin to consider Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound blueprints that are presented by political aspirants. A leader must be visionary and practical.
Selflessness
Just like Jesus taught us, a leader should be a selfless individual. They should be able to put the interests of their subject before their own. They shouldn't be self-centered.
What we have witnessed as a country over time is a crop of leaders (dealers) whose main agenda in leading is to advance personal interests; They increase their salaries/allowances- they don't care about the wage bill or the minimum wage, they build/acquire huge homes- they don't care that some of the lie constituents are homeless, they gag media and curtail many other freedoms- they don't respect chapter four of our constitution (bill of rights).
Kenyans need to identify persons who are people oriented and whose agenda is for common good.
Brains
One of the greatest gifts that God gave us is the ability to reason and to think...to be able to conceive ideas...to choose between wrong and right. There are individuals who acquire this through the education system whilst there are others who are just naturally smart.
The former are able to breakdown situations critically and formulate solutions to the problems by application of the theories and principles learnt in school whilst the latter use instincts and intuition to solve problems.
A combination of the two elements is rare in the political circles hence the voters need to identify such with a fine tooth comb in order to identify persons suitable to represent them. It's unfortunate that we have crooks and quacks for leaders- not all of them though.
For the citizenry to achieve this, they must look at the aspirants not along party or tribal lines but through a the content of the aspirants' character.
It's important for Wananchi to remember that a country's leadership reflects the values treasured in that particular country.
Hon Charles Bazenga
