Assess quality of leaders seeking your 2017 vote

NAIROBI: This year, there have been two very positive developments— President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya in July with his message on patriotism, and the recent World Bank report on Kenya’s global competitiveness in business where the country has improved by 28 positions in global rankings. Despite these developments, Kenya is a nation whose reference point is doom and gloom. When we read our newspapers, social media, listen to radio stations and watch television programmes, the script is the same, rarely is there an expression of optimism or confidence.

This has partly been attributable to the misconduct of some county governors and MCAs who are often pre-occupied with or fending off impeachment threats as if that is all we elected them to do. We rarely get good news coming from counties except allegations of corruption, mismanagement, abuse and misuse of resources and endless travel for “benchmarking” by MCAs to this or that country. We are truly a “travelling nation” to nowhere while discarding the Kibaki tag of a working nation! This has created paralysis in the minds of Kenyans as to the value of devolution! This is despite the fact that, if we want meaningful development, devolution must work. How, do we measure the quality of the men and women we elect as MPs or MCAs? The majority of us give little or no thought to what leadership means as manifested during party nominations and the General Election. It is only after voting that we become “wise” and ask “why did we elect him/her?” Then it is too late.

As 2017 General Election approaches, Kenyans should take the nominations and elections of the leaders seriously. We must change the narrative and interrogate, interview, vet and qualify those we shall cede the power of governance and legislation. To change this, we must insist on pro-active civic education campaigns by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Civil society, churches and those interested in good governance must close ranks and define good leadership. Kenyans must appreciate the country’s incredible diversity of resources, from world class tourism assets, very productive arable land, and a fairly well educated population. This country’s potential has never been greater. The missing link is the quality of leadership. Therefore, we must not take for granted the process of choosing leaders. We have to be vigilant and prevent theft of our resources by those whom we have entrusted with the mandate to lead through voters’ negligence (many voters are offered goodies to elect misfits during party nominations and the General Election).

One question Kenyans never ask is, “do we elect leaders for their benefit or to serve our cause?” This is the elephant in the room. Politics as an instrument of governance of any country is exceptionally crucial. Unfortunately we are blindfolded into electing leaders whose objectives are at variance with our aspirations. Success depends on our industriousness and commitment to hard work, discipline and above all embracing of the rule of law and due process.

To appreciate what a great country we have, we only need to look at the foreign nationals and immigrants who have settled among us. Their standards of living, on average, are way above that of millions of Kenyans. Why? They see opportunities while we see problems. They see challenges while we see darkness.

As acknowledged by observers, our athletes have demonstrated exceptional talent through sheer hard work, diligence and commitment to their cause. That is why they are the world champions. Last Sunday Mary Keittany and Stanley Biwott won both women and men’s New York City marathon. It is because they have strong belief in themselves, they take nothing for granted and begin the races with one goal in mind, to win. We don’t have to look out there for better examples than the men and women who represent us in many global sports forums. They are a team of very dedicated and determined individuals who don’t operate from the plane of impossibilities.