A wise man once whispered to me that a fool learns from his own mistakes while a wise man sees the mistakes in others and learns for himself. This drove me to observe global nations and find out the truth. What made them tick or tick not?
I studied Somalia and Rwanda since these two nations have two things in common: They understand war and violence and they are our neighbours. One is doing something about it and the other is not.
Somalia has been in a state of war for the past quarter century: longer than R. Kelly’s musical career. We all can vividly remember the Rwandan genocide story.
As a believer am reminded that “to every thing there is season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up….” These are not just words but powerful realities that define our way of life.
Politicians
As I read the book: The Roots of the Somali Crisis, I realized that Kenya, my motherland, is a fool who never learns from the mistakes of his neighbours nor ever tries to emulate the best practices among notable nations.
First, Somalia is a nation in which there is more loyalty to the clan than there is to the state. Her politicians, from independence, exploited this reality to achieve success at the expense of the development and growth of the nation.
Somalia politicians disregarded merit and chose clan supremacy to validate key appointments and resource distribution. This is of course no different from Kenya’s scenario. We send politicians abroad to ‘benchmark’ and the best we ever get out of these trips are selfies and scandals. More so, politicians put together a group of sycophantic or greedy folks to deliver a public display of unity. So entrenched in our thought process is this religious belief that every community is preparing a tribal chief to succeed President Uhuru. No wonder we see a barrage of resistance from his own backyard just to prove that they are ready to lead the community after he leaves office in 2022.
This is so bad that we have exported this belief to the private sector. What a disaster in waiting.
The only difference between Somalia and us is the fact that their clans are armed, whereas our tribal gangs are not armed. Do we realize how much damage we are causing to the core fabric of our nation? Do we realize how much patriotism we lose each day we promote tribalism?
The other mistake Somalia made was their politics lacked ideology, so do ours. We do not have a unifying goal but clamour for our tribal chief to be in government.
Somalia failed to invest in the future when it was affordable. The kind of investments that alleviate: poverty, disease, exclusion and ensure sustainable development.
This is what Rwanda is working at.
The People
For a healthy article and a sober mind, I will try to ignore the political class and address the folks whom we share this space called hassle. A nation is built by the people not politicians. We just employ them as custodians of our heritage and resources.
We are accustomed to things not getting done by those bestowed with that responsibility so we resign ‘do-it-yourself’ way of life. This is not cool especially when exercised for a long time. Look at how our town wreck of filth just because the county governments and their residents (the ones who throw litter in the wrong places) chose to not perform their functions as required of them. Water, a basic need, is still a mystery most county are grappling with; Bad roads.
We do not expect much from the government. This is because we elect the leaders not based on merit but tribe or bribe. We know they won’t deliver but cannot do a thing because we fear being seen as betraying our communities. When tribal supremacy takes center stage, patriotism exit.
If we expect nothing then anyone and anything can be MCA, MP, Senator, Governor or the president. This explains why we elect questionable character into public office and yet cry foul on Twitter when they start being themselves.
For a better Kenya, each one of us has to take the personal initiative to make their world a better place. Leaders need to understand that credibility of leadership can only be established through actions and not words. I am referring here to the kind of action that distinguishes a leader who considers his people his country’s foremost asset and not one who looks at them as a burden and or a gang of votes.
We are in dire need of leaders whose vision is sharp and goals are clear; a leader willing to take responsibility for every action affecting his people and the nation, whether directly or otherwise; and above all, leader whose fear for God is unwavering. For with each new day in Africa, an antelope wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest antelope or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself an antelope or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive.
I know all living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible. Let my thoughts not fall victim to this analogy.
Don Santo is an artist;
Consultant on Corporate Training, Marketing and Communication;
President of the Klassik Royal Organization.
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