My Simplistic Governance Roadmap!

I believe the President and his deputy ("dynamic duo" à la Ubako) have a God-sent opportunity to not only reshape the destiny of this nation but to change the perspective that the international community, their detractors and the civil society have about them. If I had the chance to be either of them I would focus on a number of issues.

One of the areas that I would focus on is National Healing and Cohesion. The country underwent a very divisive campaign and electoral period and in some quarters the emotions are still very high after they lost out in the plebiscite and the subsequent petition. The nation has also since the colonial time undergone some very difficult times during which a lot of injustices were committed by the ruling elite and their cohorts. Urgent national healing is required so that the supporters of those that lost out can feel that indeed they are still part of this great Nation. I would thus recommend a Peace, Healing and Cohesion Initiative to be undertaken by the current constitutional bodies that we have in place such as NCIC, TJRC, KHREC, CAJ and NGEC. I would also ensure that the TJRC commission report is speedily received (this has already happened), released to the public in its entirety (thanks to the commission we don’t have to wait for the president to do so) and recommendations of the report put into action of course through public involvement and participation (with main political players across the divide adversely mentioned I await to see delivery of justice and reconciliation). I would also ensure that other reports by commissions of inquiry are released for public consumption and recommendations adequately addressed. As a way of addressing historical injustices and bringing about national healing, I would also embark on speedy resettlement of all genuine IDPs and ensure they are appropriately and adequately compensated for their losses.

SOAR HIGH UP WITH THE EAGLE!

We are in that period again when we spend all our energies arguing on who is best suited to lead the nation. Like many of you I too have my preferred candidates for the various positions. When I started on this post I had intended to drum support for my preferred presidential candidate but as I progressed I felt that the qualities of an eagle (Eagle being the coalition of my candidate of choice) are indeed qualities that we should look for in the candidates up for election regardless of their sponsoring parties. I thus put down why I feel EAGLE leadership is what we require in Kenya:

1. Eagles have a vision: We have an economic blueprint namely Vision2030 and for us to actualize this vision we too require visionary leadership. If you are tired of the old rhetoric from our overly recycled and reused leaders then look no further than the visionary leadership of an Eagle.
2. Eagles are fearless: An eagle uses the currents of a storm to soars to greater heights. Likewise, the Eagle leadership will take us to greater heights by taking challenges head-on. Our country faces a myriad of challenges and for us to wade out of the murk we need fearless leaders. And in fearless I don't mean fearless when it comes to hitting brick walls with their bare knuckles or when hurling stones at the opposition.
3. Eagles are high flyers:  An eagle is the only bird that can fly up to an altitude of 10,000. I believe under an eagle leadership Kenya will be on the right trajectory. We have been told time and again that at independence Kenya was in the same economic standing with Malaysia and South Korea, today the difference is as big as the distance between Kenya and these countries. We thus need a leader who will steer the country to the right economic flight path and fly us high up above the stormy economic weather.
4. Eagles never eat dead meat: Are you a scavenger or an eagle? By voting back the overly reused and tired leaders you are only proving that you are a scavenger. On March 4, 2013 become an eagle – vote for fresh ideas, vote for visionary leaders who are both fearless and high flyers. An eagle leader will spend time with people who are vibrant and liberal in their thinking and not hobnobbing with his/her fellow bourgeoisie.
5. Eagles possess vitality:  An eagle leader is full of life and a visionary but he/she finds time to look back and reenergize. Great leaders are the ones that always do “check and balance” of their personal and professional lives and make an effort to learn things every day. This is the jubilee year for Kenya; a year for us to take stock. Look back at how far we have come, look forward at where we want to be, then pause and ask yourselves these questions; is this the best we could have done? What or who held us back? What do we need to do to cover up on the lost ground? The answer to the last question lies in your pocket or purse – use it wisely.
6. Eagles nurture their young ones: Need I say more to the youth of this country. We need a leader who will empower our youthful generation, a leader who will create opportunities for the youth. We have lost some many youthful people in crime, drugs, HIV/AIDS and this is the time to put a stop to this.

Whoever you choice is, vote wisely and above all maintain peace!

BAD POLITICS WILL LEAD US TO A PATH OF DESTRUCTION ONCE MORE

Writing in a local daily immediately after the post-elections violence that had engulfed the nation, a renowned political scientist argued that the National Accord had come a bit too early. When I read the article I was a little bit apprehensive; I could not understand how one would advocate for the violence to go on even for a minute longer. Fast forward two years to the current ICC debacle as well as the games being played out in parliament and I could be more in agreement with the author. For a country like Rwanda, they learnt their lesson the hard way. Hundreds of thousands of innocent lives were lost before they came to the realization of what was happening to them. As country we are lucky to have come out united, but we are very fast at forgetting the price we had to pay for our mistakes. The blood of the innocent men, women and children who lost their lives in a battle that did not deserve to be fought should not be in vain. We should honor their memories by uniting; by shunning negative ethnicity; by engaging in activities to foster peace and unity amongst our communities.