criticism and to demonstrate a degree of tone deafness that is inimical to good governance. Just like Caesar’ s wife a leader’ s conduct should always be beyond reproach.
This is especially so if the said leader is an avowed god-fearing Christian by his own confession and has told all and sundry that Kenya is a firm believer in the rule of law and constitutionalism as the bedrock of democracy.
Controversial decisions that saw Kenya get into partnership with a shadowy figure to supposedly spruce up our universal health care do not augur well for the credibility of a president especially when that service is failing.
Kenya’ s healthcare system was not in a crisis and we do cognizant of the fact any system can be improved upon, which in practice means that the process of continuous improvements made famous by the Japanese was advisable.
But there is a huge difference between overhauling a system and halting it in mid-stream. The new system acquired at an astronomical cost had not even been test-piloted when it was imposed on Kenyans with a punitive contribution rate.
escalate the issue found herself being arrested in hospital for saying what hundreds of Kenyans are saying, that the system is currently a flop.
The many stakeholders involved in the scheme have cast aspersion on it and many have even refused to cooperate with an opaque system. Systems that are usually implemented by fear and intimidation eventually fail as they are based on dishonesty.
When a leader chooses to append his name and reputation to a program that is suspect he can expect to reap the blame and the attendant credibility issues. What makes this sad is that we have created a crisis where there was none.
When a leader insists in espousing unpopular views that are totally out of touch with the public opinion and which are deemed to have hidden agendas, it will make that leader lose credibility and the trust of the people.
To use Kenya-speak when the people say that‘ kwa ground mambo ni different’ it means that the ground has shifted and canny politicians know how to ride the wave while arrogant ones fight public opinion to their peril. today finds itself with a harlequin cabinet composed of handpicked individuals that are suddenly supposed to steer the country to prosperity.
When a leader keeps on changing his views on the way to run a country it portrays an innate indecisiveness and an opportunistic demeanor. Kenyans are aware that our current government is a forced marriage of convenience.
A leader who has been forced to capitulate |
a position and cooperate with the opponent |
becomes a pawn and the internal intrigues |
of trying to maintain control after ceding |
authority |
becomes |
an |
all-consuming |
occupation. |
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Nothing injures a leader’ s credibility more than the fact he has had to be rescued from his subjects and that his survival is at the pleasure of his nemesis. Anything that attacks the ego of the leader makes him doubly dangerous as he operates from a place of insecurity.
The Kenyan situation is complicated by the existence of an inner circle of streetwise operatives who are quite immune to the nuances of the delicate art of governance and who believe that state machinery can always be used to subjugate dissenters.
There has been total lack of transparency in the so-called benefits that this new system would deliver to the people but of greater worry is the level of intolerance as regards any feed-back that is proffered.
The issue at hand is not whether the new system is superior or not, the pertinent issue is the handling of the transition which created a crisis that need never have taken place. Since this was the way forward for Kenya henceforth, what was the hurry for?
The official denial that the system is not working has been so vehement that a protestor who took it upon herself to
A man is judged by the company he keeps and unfortunately that is also true for leaders with an extra caveat. Anyone, even if remotely associated with the leader will affect the reputation of the said leader and family is especially a touchy issue.
The composition of the Kenyan cabinet has been a long-standing joke since it is quite apparent that they are not appointed to work but to join the president’ s praise and worship team. At one time the Prime Cabinet Secretary run all ministries quite efficiently.
After vowing that there will never be a handshake with the opposition, Kenya
When there is dishonesty and deception, credibility is tested, lying and misrepresenting facts just aggravates matters. Unethical behavior undermines the foundation of credibility and one should remember that inappropriate behavior is in the eyes of the beholder.
The fact that the use of force in the current Kenyan situation is actually counterproductive and does more harm than good is totally lost on the operatives whose fanatical allegiance to the leader is their route to riches and comfort.
Drunk with power and being uncouth, they fail to support the leader’ s quest to remain popular as they panic easily and feel threatened by anyone who tends to question the authority of the leader.
What makes this inner circle dangerous is that they have the government resources on call and they tend to act and think later and they are particularly sensitive and are always fearful that a failure at their level will topple the leader hence their livelihood.
Most leaders tend to keep their children off the political platform because they are easy targets for those with bad intentions. Amazingly the anointed one has not tried to put a rein on his children who have become notorious as entitled first siblings.
The fact that their escapades have not attracted the wrath of the leader means he does not see any wrong doing on their part. Unfortunately, their conduct has a huge impact on the credibility of the
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