Happy New Year, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press!
The People Daily describes 2024 as “the year many Kenyans would rather forget”. Reason?
“Economic hardships driven by high inflation, rising public debt, wastage of public funds, high unemployment, displays of opulence, police brutality and abductions are among the major issues Kenyans would like to forget quickly at the dawn of 2025.”
The mounting public frustrations found their most eloquent and militant expression in the totally unforeseen wave of youth-led protests that climaxed in the historic storming of Parliament on June 25, 2024.
Now, Parliament is the symbol of democracy. The attack was not merely an expression of public rage but, crucially, symbolised complete lack of faith in Kenya’s elected leadership.
The tumultuous events of the past year – witnessed and documented for posterity by our country’s heroic journalists – could well be summed up in the famous opening words of one of Chinua Achebe’s books:
“The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”
Replace Nigeria and truer words were never written about the condition of Kenya at the start of 2025. We witness failure of leadership every single day in the words, actions, inactions and attitudes of the persons we elected to lead us.
Keeping an unblinking eye on the leadership of our country and demanding better is the primary task of journalism this year.
Let’s reflect a little about leadership. What exactly are we talking about? Why does leadership matter? Why is holding leaders to account the primary task of journalism?
Leadership is the responsibility to manage the affairs of an institution or community to achieve its aspirations. Leadership requires competence, clarity of mind on matters of public interest, making bold decisions, and providing visionary guidance on shared issues. The leader provides answers or – well, because he or she is not God – is at the forefront of the search for solutions to common concerns for citizens to live better.
But leadership is also about emotional intelligence, particularly a deep connection to the people and their concerns. You don’t talk at citizens. You don’t gloat, threaten or dismiss. You listen. Big ears, small mouth (mostly shut). What you can deliver, you do: efficiently and promptly. What you can’t, you persuade why expressed public expectations may not be met.
The leader and his or her people are in a permanent dialogue. The people’s expectations are legitimate. They speak from their hearts. The difficulties a leader faces in fulfilling those expectations are real, as well. The leader and the people find common ground. They journey together.
The South African anti-apartheid icon Robert Sobukwe said: “True leadership demands complete subjugation of self, honesty and integrity, uprightness of character, courage and fearlessness, and above all a consuming love for one’s people.”
Amílcar Cabral, the political philosopher and organiser for the liberation of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde from Portuguese colonialism, wrote that: “Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”
The leadership envisioned by Sobukwe and Cabral is lacking in Kenya today. The people feel betrayed, are frustrated and angry. There is a clear disconnect between the leaders and citizens. The Catholic bishops of Kenya described this crisis as “a culture of lies”.
Journalism is truth-seeking and truth-telling. Our task in this depressing situation is obvious.
The trouble with Kenya is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Kenyan character. There is nothing wrong with the Kenyan land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Kenyan problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, there is no greater service we can offer our Motherland than to train our lenses on the leadership. Upon leadership alone a nation stands or falls. Let’s hear Cabral once more:
“Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.” None of that is possible without good leadership.
See you next week!
