Kenya is at a cross-road and it will be naive for anyone to assume that there will be no political maneuver during the upcoming transitions in almost all major elective posts at the National and County governments.
As you have witnessed with the ongoing campaigns, every politician whenever and wherever they get an opportunity in the podium of politics to speak, none is talking about servanthood. Everyone wants to be a leader but the only priority on their political to-do list is “Fake Promises.’’ How I wish they could be updating us on the SGR second phase or the Nairobi Expressway project, or how far we are with the implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol not forgetting the assurance of our safety, reduction in the cost of basic commodities including electricity. Unfortunately, the political rallies we are being treated to have become free classes on how to abuse others effectively. With the ongoing political gimmicks, it is evident that we live in a highly ethnicized and politicized nation, and we pay the price for it every single day.
Anyway, leadership is a topic that many people talk about but few understand it with the depth, insight, and biblical wisdom that it deserves. There are a million books, websites, and conferences out there on how to be a great leader. But when it comes to the political leadership of a nation, things start to thin out a bit.
As we head towards the elections, I am reminded of The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu who once said “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” That little bit starts with you and me as a voter…going out to vote for the right leader with the foresight to overwhelm our Nation with good leadership.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016, in support of Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House, Michelle Obama made what has now become one of her famous quotes, “When they go low, we go high.” This catchphrase should literally be on the lips of every Kenyan voter because it is easy to go low and be sustained by political promises only or threats that things will be better tomorrow – which is the easiest thing to do! But ideally, we should stand up and demand better leadership because another general election without a makeover, is the old all over again!