GITILE NAITULI: Kenya just needs good leaders

At least 58 years ago, ordinary men and women of Kenya launched the improbable experiment to self- governance.

Without caring about their tribal identity, age, sex, place of residence or social status, they organiSed around a common challenge presented by colonialists and the desire to take charge of their destiny.

Eventually, after hardships borne, bloodshed and death experienced together in the forests fighting the mzungu (white settlers), the much-needed independence came. Everybody was happy that a new dawn for all had come.

Kenyans who got the confidence of a hopeful nation to lead it to a better future told us that we needed to confront three challenges: Ignorance, disease and poverty. Then everything changed.

Instead of leading the nation to fight for this higher calling, the leaders saw an opportunity to advance their welfare instead of that of the nation. In effect, 58 year period of self-rule has been a lost cause. This state of affairs has to change, if we are to make things better for all of us.

Today Kenyans are hurting everywhere with the cost of living almost hitting an all-time high since the birth of this nation. The level of poverty is unprecedented and the gaps in our modern-day society are getting wider. Questions are being asked why we had to fight for independence in the first place.

The prospects of a better Kenya is lost, not because Kenyans don’t know what they want in their lives but because of the selfish, visionless and corrupt matrix of leaders from which to choose. The time to drain the swamp and turn Kenya into a more caring, more democratic, and more prosperous nation has come.

 A change in leadership style is what would count for the country at the moment. This goes beyond whether the same is guaranteed by a political party or a coalition of political parties.

What would matter the most is the type of leaders we bring on board, more than the nature of vehicle they use to ascend to power.

The former National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) member spoke to the Star