Leadership Culture in Kenya

It has been one year and Kenya is reeling from a very dark moment following the post-election violence which occurred in the beginning of the year. Thousands died, and many more were displaced, the highest acts of human injustice were committed, and we are still reeling from the effects. There is a problem in leadership not only in Kenya but in most African countries;
Africa lacks leaders led by passion and willingness to serve most are led by greed and selfishness, hence the height of corruption and civil strife. Kenyans are barely out of the dark shadows it was exposed to in the beginning of the year and our political leaders are already campaigning and declaring the intentions to run for presidency in 2012.

Yet there is still a lot that needs to be done. Steps should be taken to hold those found guilty accountable, otherwise come 2012, we will find ourselves in a much worse situation. Our leaders should be held accountable for their actions, thus the need to form the truth justice and reconciliation committee, to address the post election violence.

The international community and the civil society should put pressure on the existing government to change the existing political structures before Kenya finds herself in a worse situation. There is a lot of advocacy work needed here.

The performance of leaders during their leadership terms should also be monitored, such that a leader should only maintain the position based on his or her performance. There is an urgent need to change the leadership culture in Kenya. Kenya is notoriously known for its habitual recycling of leaders even if they have not performed their duties effectively and efficiently. This is mainly because they control most of the resources , and can easily use it to manipulate voters. The culture of voting not because of loyalty based on tribe, racial, blood relations or other subjective factors, but rather in terms of ability to deliver and perform as expected should be entrenched into Kenyans. It is unfortunate that this is one of the most notorious campaign strategies used by most leaders in Kenya.

More importantly there is need to have a comprehensive constitution, that clearly spells out the nature and extent of the government. This constitution should be owned by the people to enhance patriotism in Kenyans regardless of their tribe, thus the need to involve the people in the making process.

We need fresh ideas and a new approach to leadership. The existing leaders have been in leadership positions for years, and since they control most of the countries resources, it is difficult to penetrate the system. The system is not failing because of corruption, and greed in our leaders, the system is running because of corruption and greed. the historical development of politics in Kenya confirms this. Thus as much as there is a need to change the existing leadership, if the system, then the problem will remain only this time it will have a different face.