How Eldoret's statue mirrors mediocrity in our leadership

This week Kenyans were rightfully disgusted by the grotesque statue in Eldoret meant to honour Faith Kipyegon.

Mercifully, authorities in Eldoret promptly got rid of the eyesore after widespread complaints online. While in the grand scheme of things this might be a “little” scandal, it nonetheless reflects our ongoing predicament as a society governed by people addicted to phoning it in on everything and hangers-on in the public service who add very little value.

How could multiple thinking adults approve of the installation of such a disgusting piece of art? Did anyone suggest the need to honour one of our most celebrated athletes with a higher-quality stature?

Exactly how much money was spent on this effort? How can we cycle out of this culture of mediocrity among our governing elites?

As a people, we must ask ourselves these important questions. The silliness witnessed in Eldoret permeates the government’s approach to service delivery in important sectors like security, agriculture, education, health and more.

Nobody bothers to plan or sweat the details. Nobody cares about whether the public actually benefits from the services provided. Invariably, those in charge only ever care about the tenders involved. The very ugliness of the statue is an apt metaphor of the sheer incompetence entrenched in the public sector. 

Public opprobrium over the Eldoret statue scandal was likely accentuated by the fact that none other than President William Ruto has been roaming around the country relaunching old projects and claiming credit for all manner of things (some of them fairly trivial).

This is also the same week in which Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua instructed the new Cabinet Secretaries to scream from the rooftops about every little thing they do.

When Kenyans look at the government, there is this sinking feeling that those in charge are unable to do anything meaningful, and so all we should expect from them are comical displays of incompetence. A public relations circus has replaced the serious job of government and administration. 

Kenyans deserve better. We deserve a governing elite that respects themselves enough to sweat the details on both small and big things. We deserve leaders to project competence and whose conduct in public and private can channel our collective aspirations towards an ever more well-ordered society.

If they can do this shoddy job for the auspicious occasion of inaugurating Eldoret City, is there anything that is beneath them?

The writer is a professor at Georgetown University