THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE – Who is to blame for Kenya’s continuing decline?

 Any organization must inevitably have a strategist. This is the master of the game plan. Others below him/her will come up with different causes of action. But, this strategist will ultimately choose the best of them all or even a combination of the plans of action. This is the person who gets credit when an institution excels.  He/she also experiences the wrath of the equity holders when things do not work as expected. Safaricom is a good example for our purposes. It would be hard for anybody to think about the company without putting Michael Joseph into contemplation.

 Even, my good friend Mungai Kihanya has branded himself in his own name not only in writing but also as a business entity. “I am fully accountable for whatever happens in what I do,” he recently insinuated. At your personal level, you are the chief strategist of your life. You reap the full benefits of your successes. You will also suffer the consequences of your failed actions. Notably, it is actions that fail but never the person.

In the International perspective, the rise and rise of Rwanda is now synonymous with President Paul Kagame. Even today, it is hard to talk about Singapore without mention of the great contribution and particularly the benevolence of Li Kwang Yu, the leader who fast-tracked the country towards becoming an Asian Tiger. Communism in Cuba on the other hand has been held together by Fidel Castro. Upon his exit, cracks in communism are now visible. It is just a matter of time before the full collapse becomes a reality.

Here, at home, we are constantly referring to The President and Prime Minister to guide us out of the tribulations that the country has been experiencing. My worry is that when we put the leadership responsibility of this country in the hands of two people, who is to blame if we continue sinking? Of course, one must have bigger share of responsibility than the other. In any case, when things are good, each of them would want to claim the credit. When things hit the wall, will it be a blame game? We have of course witnessed it all.

 But, what I am driving at is that there can be no shared responsibility of leading a country just as it impossible in leading a business entity. The buck must always rest somewhere whenever things go wrong. The credit must also rest somewhere when things get right. This coalition business is therefore the undoing of this country and is only serving interests of a few individuals. It is actually the excuse that our ‘Leaders’ will give for driving the country to a halt as they once again ask for votes in just about 3 years time. I hope and pray that ordinary Kenyans who are sadly the majority in this country will NOT once again fall into this trap of being made to keep going round in circles.

 Meanwhile, pawns are essentially sacrificed to safeguard the King as well as the Queen, in a game of chess. Whether, we will continue being pawns in the political game that determines our personal, organizational and overall national destiny will entirely depend on us. We indeed have power to choose our own destiny through electing leaders who will continually realize that they are accountable to us. In any case, does this nation not belong to all of us collectively?

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