the people that we entrust with our lives.
Could we make the police an integral part
of our lives?
A bit more research convinced him that
crime would actually drop if the police was
integrated as part of the community. For
policing to improve the officers must feel
they belong and that they are contributing
to a higher common good.
The businessman, being a pragmatic man
accustomed to solving problems was unable
to let the situation be and he conceived an
audacious plan to create a social impact
in the area with a vision of eventually
eradicating the usual stereotypes that we
associate with the police.
To do this the businessman had to first
change his personal attitude to the police
and embrace the fact they were like any
of his relatives and that the unavoidable
symbiotic relationship of the protector
and the protected required trust and
tolerance.
In his mind it was no longer tenable that
the past bad experiences with the police
should be an excuse to forever refuse to
see the possible. A rational man sees
what is and learns to live with it while a
transformational leader sees what can be
and works to attain the vision.
And the vision was grand, a state of the art
police station complete with conference
facilities, a research center, a gym, playing
facilities for children and a shopping area
for the officers with a price tag of Kenya
Shillings three hundred and fifty million
for phase one!
And for starters they sank a borehole to
ensure they addressed the most urgent of
the officer’s needs. The police station was
to be a public private sector initiative that
he hoped would be scaled up or down as a
model police station for the country.
The businessman set up a steering
committee and began the arduous job
to raise the money for this most noble
of projects and by the time of writing
this piece Kenya Shillings two hundred
million has already been pledged, so the
project is alive.
Unfortunately the man who had this
vision is not, as he was suddenly snatched
from us by the grim reaper though a heart
attack. Fortunately his vision is very much
alive in all those that he passionately sold
the dream to.
He enlisted our help as Marketing Africa
to market the project to the community
and especially the corporates in the police
station’s jurisdiction and he had made an
impassioned appeal to marketers to help
see the project through, in our function
before his untimely demise.
When you eulogize a man we tend to talk
of the things that he achieved at a personal
level and as a leader, usually political or
commercial. Rarely do we get to hail a
man whose impact on the social sector is
still work in progress.
Karanja Kabage was an extraordinary man,
He achieved many things as a business
titan and community leader but to us all
that pales in comparison to his impact as
a social transformer and a visionary leader
who led quietly from the back.
His project was the Kilimani Police
Station Redevelopment and we pay
tribute as a pledge that we will continue
to support the project as a befitting legacy
to a man who taught us the true meaning
of humanity and practiced the dictum ‘Do
unto others as you would have them do
unto you.’
Rest In Peace KK!