“Why does Kenya seem to have such a low quality of leaders, especially MPs?” He responded, “Kenyans get the leaders they deserve.”

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UONGOZI:
Ni Sisi! Its Up To US!
By John Githongo - CEO, Inuka Kenya Ltd (by Guarantee)
WE KENYANS LOVE complain about our leaders so much one might be forgiven for thinking
that we undergo a total transformation at election time when a hysteria grips people as they
head to the polling station completely convinced to vote for this or that party; or, just as
often to vote against this or that party. The coffee table café latte doubts one hears
expressed these days of, ‘Oh, who do we vote for in 2013, all the choices don’t appeal”, are
cast aside as tribal mobilization gathers steam.
I was once in a group where one of this country’s top politicians was asked to his face, “Why
does Kenya seem to have such a low quality of leaders, especially MPs?” He responded,
a
“Kenyans get the leaders they deserve.”
We often don’t ask many questions about who we are voting for when the election
campaigns are at fever pitch. Because by then underlying the mobilization that will have
taken place is the question of which tribe or tribal coalition am I voting for or which tribe or
tribal coalition am I voting against. At that last lonely moment when one stands hidden in
the polling booth this primal pull often overwhelms all other identities. The Rotarian
often
Professor who loves playing golf, quoting Shakespeare; who reads the Nation but sits back
to enjoy the insights and analysis of the columnists of the Sunday Nation and the EastAfrican
is at that moment reduced to ‘kabila yangu’.
uced
This powerful singular identity of the kabila has been given a bad name by anyone and
everyone interested in the new katiba, in development, maendeleo, in issue
issue-driven politics,
in transparency, accountability etc etc. In truth we are often loathe to admit that when we
we
are in ‘kabila yangu’ mode it often gives one a warm fuzzy feeling; it is deeply comforting; it
implies a sense of belonging and thus security that comes from kith and kin. It is also very
convenient because it creates an identifiable enemy – usually another kabila or group of
tes
kabilas and their allies; something that can be quite amorphous and yet in discussions about
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‘it’ and ‘them’ we know who we’re talking about as if there is a secret code only Kenyans
really comprehend.
Having a ‘them’ we can blame for all that’s wrong in our society makes life quite simple and
even PhD golfers and makes the rest of us incredibly lazy in our thinking. When corruption
scandals break out we can blame ‘them’ because they are genetically greedy, thieving,
genetically
unscrupulous etc – it makes sense in a manner that is so neat no academic theory or analysis
can really beat it. Of course when it is me who is benefitting from what others are calling
corruption I need a narrative that justifies m favored condition which deep down I know at
my
the very least skirts the fringes of the law or outright is illegal but its ‘our’ turn to eat. So
‘they’ become ‘lazy noisemakers who don’t value ‘work’’; ‘they’ become‘ foreign funded
NGO-type busy bodies and activists’; and, a host of other stereotypes that lend succor to
thieves.
Kenya is undergoing multiple transitions. The Makerere generation that has ruled Kenya
since independence is passing away – both physically and symbolically as Kibaki completes
his last term. We have a new constitution in place that has a devolved system of government
at its heart which means Kenya is essentially back where we were in 1963. Dawn has
arrived full of promise. Promise that is bolstered by developments in the economy, th
the
discovery of oil and other minerals and, most importantly, the fact that the majority of our
population is youthful, reasonably well educated and healthy. The international Criminal
Court process has introduced the concept of accountability to an elite t
that has reveled in
impunity for decades and as it rolls out its impact will reverberate through our body politic.
So its clear Kenya is at the cusp of taking off as sometimes excessively exuberant hedge fund
types have crowing about. It is also clear though that massive governance challenges
though
confront us. They need to start being sorted out or else, and yes, it is possible Kenya can
become a failed state. Manifestations of these challenges are everywhere. Tana River has
exposed the need for security sector reform. The current strikes by teachers, lecturers and
doctors is interesting because wananchi seem to support them despite the pain these
actions are causing. In a context where MPs raise their own salaries with impunity and
corruption has been normalized more than at any other time in Kenya’s history, this is not
surprising. The discomfort of our current leadership is seen as deserved.
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At the same time too political leaders have started their campaigns. There isn’t much talk
about values and policies and the little there is, is greeted with a hefty dose of cynicism. This
is partly the result of historical lessons well learnt. The real campaigns are about ethnic
arithmetic and the most profound underlying narrative has been about leaders
consolidating their tribal blocs. In an environment where there doesn’t appear to be a hand
r
on the steering wheel of a coalition Kenyans didn’t vote for, there is widespread concern
about growing insecurity, the potential for violence, the possibility of an imperfect electi
election,
the implications of the ICC etc. Combined they have the potential to create the perfect storm.
A lesson from the past well learnt is that if things are going to go wrong its because a clean
election, proper implementation of the constitution and the rule of law generally is inimical
rule
to the mainly economic interests of a small class of Kenyans. It is they who have conjured up
and cultivated the false consciousness of kabila in order to keep us fragmented and
malleable. Perhaps fear, informed very much by the debacle of 2008 when Kenya almost
descended into civil war, is a good thing this time. It’s forcing more and more of us to realize
that real change is about all of US and the choices we make and actions we take as individual
Kenyans.
Leaving our fate in the hands of warlords who measure support deep down by the number
e
of supporters they have willing to kill for them is a frightening prospect. And so it should be.
It is becoming clear that there are those among them for whom violence remains an
important political tool. If the dawn promised by the new constitution is not to prove to be a
ant
false one as happened immediately after independence then the choices need to made by all
of US now and at the ballot box. Now as in what we choose to believe and prop
propagate about
each other. Deciding now as a matter of urgency to reject the entreaties of warlords on the
basis of the false consciousness of kabila. It not easy but nation-building never is. But it’s
It's building
essential for Kenya. We simply have too many governance balls up in the air at the same
time. Juggling them will be, and already is proving a challenge. Kenyans are up to the task
but it requires subtle changes in the way we think of each other, Kenya and our place in it.
Kenya can’t ‘muddle through’ this transition the way we have through so many other
transition
important moments in our history. We drop too many balls and we could lose Kenya as we
know it. Make the right choices after mitigating the consciousness of tribe and a great
country can truly take off and occupy its rightful place as one of the continent’s leading
occupy
nations. This informs the heart of the Uongozi campaign.
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