Lions should not underrate foxes

By Dominic Odipo

Readers of this column will be familiar with our categorisation of successful political leaders into two main groups; the lions and the foxes. This distinction was very clearly captured by Michael Maccoby in is book, The Gamesman, published in the United States at the end of the 1970s.

The book was published before Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama got to the White House. So it sampled a few recent American presidents and pigeon holed them as follows:

Franklin D Roosevelt was a lion in his courage and his powerful ambition. He was also cunning, sly and secretive — all fox-like traits — and the combination made him a formidable president.

Harry S Truman "was eager to accept responsibility, as indicated in his famous phrase,’ The buck stops here’, and courageous enough to openly fire Gen Douglass MacArthur. A lion through and through. Lyndon B. Johnson was a fox who failed to turn himself into a lion and Richard Nixon was all fox who "was hardly ever able to put on a show of lion-like qualities."

But who, according to Maccoby, are the lions and who are the foxes? "The lions are natural leaders, responsible, powerful, aggressive and courageous, and confidently at ease in the ways of their group."

They are "natural responsibility takers". They move directly and they take stands. The foxes are "cunning, sly, quick and usually rather poor at group thinking, though they may have to feign a respect for the group." They usually attempt to achieve success without taking on any more responsibility than they have to and, while lions generally take positions and hold on to them, foxes gravitate towards compromises in order to push their personal agendas forward.

According to Maccoby, ultimately, the ambition of every fox is to become a lion, and the secret of every leader is to combine both qualities in the right proportion.

Perhaps a few examples from Kenya’s recent history will shade some more light on Maccoby’s distinction. Founding President Jomo Kenyatta was a real lion, with little if any fox-like qualities.

He led from the front, courageously took positions and held onto them. The late Tom Mboya was a perfect example of the man who combines the lion and the fox in the right proportions.

This formidable combination, made it almost impossible for Mboya’s political enemies to stop him. So they killed him. Former President Daniel arap Moi and his former right-hand man, Nicholas Biwott, were fox almost all through.

In fact, if Moi had been more of a lion, like Oginga Odinga or Mboya, he would never have made it to the presidency or even to the vice presidency in the first place.

Another perfect example of Maccoby’s foxes is Attorney General Amos Wako. It is not by accident that those who were born the day after he was appointed AG are now in their 20th year.

What about our more mainstream current political leaders? President Kibaki is more of a fox than a lion. In fact, if Kibaki had been more lion than fox, he would not have been generally acceptable as the compromise Narc presidential candidate in 2002.

Posture speak volumes

Throughout his political career, President Kibaki has avoided taking major political positions publicly and then disseminating them from the rooftops. In this sense, he has been more of a Moi than a Kenyatta.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, like Mboya before him, is both lion and fox and, like Mboya again, with the lion-like qualities dominating those of the fox. This unique and judicious combination of lion and fox has made him probably the most formidable Kenyan politician living. Not many have taken him on directly and survived to gloat about it.

William Ruto is lion, lion, lion.

The lion in him threatens to eat up the fox in him altogether. Even when he speaks from a public platform, you see and here a lion, not a fox. You see powerful ambition; you see clear eagerness to accept and amass responsibility and his public gestures and postures speak volumes of their own.

Martha Karua is a true lion, not even a lioness. You cannot mistake her just like she never mistakes herself. She knows where she stands on the major issues and does not fear to state those positions, both in public and in private. In fact, if a scientific poll was taken today to determine which leading national politician Kenyans trust most, the Iron Lady from Gichugu would probably top it!

What about Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka? That does not need much comment. Most Kenyans already know in their hearts whether he is a lion or a fox.

Which brings us to the last question. Will the looming referendum be won by the lions or foxes? The answer is not obvious but the lions would be making a great mistake if they ignore the foxes amongst them. The lions, by definition, are much easier to trip than the foxes. After all, one always knows where they are!

—The writer is a lecturer and consultant in Nairobi.

dominicodipo@yahoo.co.uk