Nelson Havi, former president of the Law Society of Kenya, argues that successful lawyers are the ones who deserve to be chairpersons of the Independent Boundaries Electoral Commission (IEBC).

“Following the fate of [Samuel] Kivuitu and [Wafula] Chebukati, only a lawyer with a failed practice or death wish will apply for this career and life ending God forsaken job. May the lord be with Mr. or Madam Chair,” Havi noted in a post on social media recently

I found his views not only misleading but dangerous.

Success in legal practice or in business doesn’t automatically translate into effective leadership of government institutions. Abraham Lincoln failed in business but is reputed as one of the greatest presidents the United States has ever had.

The IEBC is an important institution in our democratic political system. It requires men and women of unquestionable ability and rectitude to run its affairs. The agency is, therefore, not a haven for failures. It isn’t even for those looking for employment either.

Managing a structured transfer of power from one electoral term to another isn’t a walk in the park. It requires two critical but complementary attributes – men and women with the ability to manage institutions and their processes. It also requires men and women with enormous courage, vision, purpose and values. Not riffraff

Public office

The responsibilities vested with the IEBC are breathtaking. Electoral politics is about transfer of the instruments of power from one electoral term to another. This is an awesome task. It is a task for men and women of iron and steel; sturdy men and women of intellect and character. Not those out to rebuild their careers or those with suicidal tendencies.

Havi’s comments attracted a flood of comments. Of all the responses, one by Zachary Odeg, a lawyer like Havi, attracted my attention.

“Someone must do the job, anyway. I don’t know of any job where predecessors are alive anyway,” Odegi noted.

There is virtually no public office that is without risks. A public office of similar magnitude deals with high-stakes issues. The sheer volume of pressures, the temptations, the false compromises cut across all the offices. For them, balancing interests – whether legislation, enforcement and adjudication – is a frightening task.

The legal profession is fraught with all manner of pressures, temptations, and the false compromises. It doesn’t matter whether it is at the Bar or the Bench. Advocates, magistrates and judges assume risks when they take on certain matters or are constrained to preside over the matters.

Journalists and their fellow communication specialists in organisations also face risks. Writing about some stories is risky. Advising institutions against certain courses of actions is a risky undertaking. It is not just investigative journalists who face danger. Editors and public relations professionals also face danger of one kind or another.

So Havi should appreciate that some of the people who have applied for the chair of the IEBC are not failures in their legal practice. Nor are they entertaining suicidal tendencies.

They are seeing responsibilities and not privileges.

Havi should have offered himself. After all, he holds a famous name: Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy Horatio Nelson. He is known for victories and great courage throughout his military career, culminating in his victory over the Spanish and French military at the Battle of the Trafalgar during the Napoleonic wars.

There is that other Nelson, better known to us as Nelson Mandela.

Concluding his spoken defence at the Rivonia Trial, Nelson Mandela observed: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

The writer is a Communication Specialist