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| who to choose, what to ask! |
A lot of political discussions are going on in the social media, the blog world and many forums in Kenya today more than ever, this has been propelled by many factors among them:
- The new constitutionaldispensation.
- Increased political consciousness.
- The failed leadership on the side of members of parliament.
- The upcoming 2012general elections.
- Increased corruption and the role of the media in exposing such corrupt and clandestine activities.
And as a result Kenyans are asking all the right questions and identifying very brilliant solutions and ways to embrace change and achieve development. It is beyond doubt that the masses seem to know exactly what they want from their political leaders, seem to know all the right qualities that they want in their leaders and there is this general belief that the electorate can identify a true leader when they see one. Well, I think this is a fallacy, a dream, a slumber that Kenyans need to snap out of. We need to re-educate the masses about this, time and time again we have made this mistake, replacing this or that leader with one who is even less competent than the other, we have had a change of names without any change in the way our political leaders carry out their duties, because the electorate have always thought they know what they want. Why do you think that all the newly elected leaders in parliament behave as their predecessors? It’s simple, because the masses don’t seem to learn from their historical mistakes, they don’t want to study and analyze where their mistakes are! The misconception of being politically conscious and knowing how to identify the right candidate is evidently displayed with carelessness everywhere; we need to cover up, fill up this vacuum that has been our failure.
Points of departure between the fallacy and the reality.
- Its hard to identify a true leader without some degree of critical political and social consciousness
- Hard to list very direct questions to aspiring political leaders that will help in identifying the best leader despite all the euphoria of knowing what we want.
- Hard to know truth amid all the deceptive statements, the political campaign policies.
The following can be some of the questions that we need to answer to overcome all the above obstacles. A wolf may come concealed in a sheep’s clothes, without some critical eye, you will fail to see him until he pounces on you.
Is he/she driven by needs of the society? Is he/she service driven? Is he/she ready to forego his own interests to address those of the society? How often has the candidate displayed these qualities before? What are the candidate’s goals, policies and campaign agendas?
Leadership is a calling and any true leader concerned with the good of the society will answer this calling without even being elected to a political office. Be weary of those who only show up when the electioneering period is ready. Be weary of those dishing out lots of money in their campaigns, their agenda is different from serving.
Are the political beliefs and ideologies of the candidate the same with those held by the majority of the electorate body? Is the candidate a radical, acts with consideration, deliberation, reflection and tolerance or does he act on impulse without deliberation and having adequate understanding of the prevailing situation? What sort of political order does the candidate want to establish?
A leader who pursues a different political ideology from those of the voters might be hindered in carrying out his duties; you can’t pursue socialist ideas in a society that has embraced capitalism.
Does the candidate have a good performance record? Is his/her track record clean? Is her/his employment history riddled by any kind of corrupt activity?
True leaders are known to have a good record of performing, of serving without a lot of failures, is one who learns from his mistakes and is able to carry out his/her duties with confidence, has internalized the peoples plight and has clear solving their problems.
Does he show any inventiveness and skill in tackling situations? Is he skillful enough in adapting means to ends?
An ideal candidate must be a person who sees the big picture and thinks outside the box.
How enterprising is the candidate? Is he a forward looking person?
A competent leader is one who is known to provide solutions, alternatives and can deliver the society from the quick sand of plunder onto the hard ground of success, progress and development.
6.Is he a free thinking person? Are the candidate’s actions and thoughts informed by reason? Can he make right decisions in an emergency without being influenced by other’s interests? Does he own independence and creativity in thought and action?
We don’t want a “Malcolm X and an Elijah Mohamed” sort of scenario in Kenyan leadership where the leader is a puppet or a mouth piece of another person.
Let the candidate declare his wealth and how he acquired them.
The candidate scoring high on all the above questions and able to present credible ways in which he/she can bring the much desired change and bring progress to the society is the right one to bring the much needed change.
The electorate should organize healthy political debates between the candidates in the 2012 general elections because in such kinds of forums and political questioning the distinction between: a true, service driven, competent, credible and ethical leader and a selfish, incompetent, greedy, corrupt and mediocre person can be made.
We all desire change, but do we know how to arrive at this change? What precise steps can you identify? What are the outcomes of each of these steps? What will it cost you? This are some of the other critical questions that Kenyans need to answer in order to arrive to the ends of progress.
Play your part brothers and sisters.
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