A conversation with one of our seniors in politics last weekend got me thinking about political leadership. What is it? How is it practiced? What is the best way to assess it?
Medieval author, diplomat and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a famous treatise on it in The Prince, published in 1532.
In it, Niccolo argued that politics involves deception, treachery and crime, and that therefore, a prince cannot be judged with the same morals as the commoner. A ruler should be feared more than loved, he wrote.
Looking at Kenya, I see four types of political leaders – the hard worker, the debater, the critic, and the philosopher. Let us examine each typology briefly.
Most political leaders want to be seen as hardworking, and so do by launching programmes and projects. Launching can be wasteful, and reinforces an obsession with inputs as a way of demonstrating work.
Most formal reports, by departments and oversight organs, focus on the money budgeted or spent. And while a necessary condition, a pile of money is not sufficient for true and lasting benefits to accrue to the citizen.
To get good results, you need flawless implementation, and most importantly, a change in behaviour of the target beneficiaries.
To improve maternal health, for example, it is not enough to build maternity facilities at the dispensaries. You have to persuade the population to use them, by altering health seeking behaviour.
Impacts are enduring, continue long after the work has been done, and are never linear. Vision 2030 has guided the broad direction of travel of the republic and economic policy for a decade and a half. As our common vision, it is our national interest.
More than the health of the nation’s economy, it is aspirational about how we want to live and the kind of nation we want.
Any vision or strategy will, however, face risks, some self-inflicted. Which brings us to the second leadership typology. The critic. When in opposition, they criticise government. When in government they talk tough at errant individuals and groups, real or imaginary, labelling them ‘cartels’ or enemies of development.
The take-no-prisoners approach has led to decades of negative politics, coloured our eyes, instilling fear and suspicion among us, to a point of abandoning national interest. All this undermines our democracy, our ability to create and sustain industry, as well as create and sustain a high quality of life.
In the past two years, I have been working in seven counties, from Homa Bay to Migori and Mandera. Friends from Mt Kenya readily admit they have not been to these counties.
They are quite well travelled overseas and trade across borders regularly. Yet they have not found opportunity to check out other counties in our republic.
For long I was no better. I had travelled, studied, worked and holidayed on three continents before I had visited many parts of Kenya, away from the narrow confines of my neighbourhood of Laikipia and Nyeri.
As with other lads my age, I had gone to Nairobi courtesy of relatives, and on my way to school. But I had come to know Halifax, Sydney and Johannesburg, long before Kisumu, Eldoret and Malindi.
The debaters seem to have all the fun, for they rule the airwaves – on television, and radio, and on social media. They have a view on all the daily goings-on. The content and character of debate can, however, promote negative politics and ethnicity.
All this has left us seeing each other through the lens of political insults. That lens blinds us from the great benefits of our comity.
Falsely believing politics to be a dirty game, we have accepted low-quality leaders. We applaud as politicians spread hate and bigotry. We think it okay to denigrate one another.
In so doing, we preclude for ourselves the opportunities of working together, of trading with each other and building a nation together.
“It is all a racket”, former president Mwai Kibaki once told our parliamentary group, with a tinge of frustration. His philosopher approach represents the fourth typology.
Choosing a pragmatic, inclusive approach, this leadership typology is more embracing of our minor differences, staying focused on the great commonality that brings us together.
It is my preferred leadership typology. I have found working in other counties great. I find the people are kind, generous, amazing and welcoming.
Now to assessment. Worker, debater, critic, or philosopher, are we effective in moving the republic towards a middle-income, democratic, industrialising country with a high quality of life?
The writer is the Chairman of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Email: [email protected]
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