Use voting power to elect leaders of unquestionable character
By People Daily, August 31, 2021By OLIVIA CHEBET
Next year will be a critical time for Kenya. A moment when the country will be electing its fifth president in elections scheduled short of a year away. For many, so much is at stake but one common underlying factor is that the country is on a leadership transition as the President Uhuru Kenyatta, plans to exit the scene to welcome his successor through a peaceful transition where he hopes to leave a more unified country and prosperous country.
But to attain this, the nature of leadership and what and he or she brings to the high table will shape Kenya’s future either positively or negatively as well as shaping the course of politics in the country. Like any other well-structured society, Kenya and Kenyans are yearning for a leader who will bring in positive change, one with integrity and focused on removing the country from vices that have bogged it year on end. Whether this will be attainable is dependent on our instinctiveness and assertiveness in choosing leaders with unquestionable character and our ability to lock out wrong leaders through our voting pattern and power.
Ideally, any President should be an individual of a highly regarded character, being that this is the highest political office in the country that one can hold. One should be forthright, and level headed who has a record of using his political and leadership influence to benefit the greater good of the society. Common characteristics of leaders that have been discussed in books and articles have included matters on integrity, strategic thinking, show of empathy, ethical and civic minded, visionary, accountability, resilience among other characteristics. It is rather obvious that there are numerous ways of defining a good leader but are there key definitive attributes that actually can be used to gauge the qualities of a genuine political leader, a president for that matter?
One of these channels is through candid research by identifying qualities of past presidents in Kenya that have enabled the country to make formidable gains. A rare piece by a Sri Lankan writer offers a good picture of the qualities of a good president that are discusses in depth without inclusion of any personalities, which in Kenya’s case can be used to identify a formidable presidential candidate and a possible president. These qualities may come in as pointers for future presidential or aspiring candidates.
A selfless and genuine love for the country is a top characteristic that any individual vying for presidency should possess, as this will be an enabling factor in driving positive change for the people. Any aspiring president must of course be visionary, offering direction for the country through short term and long-term solutions and resolutions for the country. Making others understand one’s vision is also of paramount importance as this will translate to solid support on the leader’s ultimate vision for the country as the support base works with the vision in mind. Apart from the aspect of accountability, great communication, any aspiring president should have demonstrated an ability to manage crisis and be courageous enough to make tough decisions as that does and has in many instances attracted backlash for Presidents including President Uhuru Kenyatta but yet were beneficial in the long-run.
In any democratic society, one is elected by the people to serve them and is all the reason why servant-leadership should be ingrained in the mindset of any leader and aspiring president for that matter with the powers given used to serve the interests of the people. Beyond borders any aspiring president should be able to manage the country’s international affairs in the best way possible. Being the image of the country and symbol of unity, the aspiring president must know the country’s position when it comes to its relationship with other countries with interests in Kenya among other factors.
So why all these discussions on the qualities of a good president? A worrisome situation, currently there is only one leader who has fully confirmed his quest to become the fifth president of Kenya. And with other candidates not fully declared their interests. This is indeed ambitious and a display of democracy but I cannot fail to ignore his association with individuals who have been highly linked to claims of money laundering. Without mentioning names lest I be held for defamation, the DP has been seen on numerous photos with individuals of very questionable character which in my view tarnishes the above-mentioned values. In fact, any aspiring leader let alone president should not be any near mention of money laundering because this is against the attributes of love for the country, accountability, visionary and even indicating little ability to manage international affairs of the country among other issues.
Any leader who aspires to be president should present a clean bill of health on matters of qualities of a worthy president. But it is us Kenyans who will be held accountable if we vote in a leader, a president whose qualities do not meet the true mark of positive leadership. Are we up for the challenge?