I had a beautiful dream about Ruto and our nation

On March 21, I woke up with a bright smile on my face. I dreamt that President William Ruto, out compassion and hindsight, had softened his hard line stance and decided to give dialogue a chance.

Through an epiphany of inspired wisdom Ruto had decided that Kenya was greater than any individual and embracing diversity of opinion was good for our beloved country.

In my dream, Ruto had decided to reach out to the voices of reason after seeing the demonstrations and resolve of Kenyans who wanted their voices to be heard. He engaged with the religious leaders, eminent Kenyans and listened to their wisdom. They told him not to heed to the warmongers and chest thumping politicians and busybodies who were telling him that he had the instruments of power and should crash his enemies to submission.

In my dream, Ruto had reached to Raila Odinga and gone to a secret location to ventilate and find a common ground. That out of the abundance of caution he did not want demonstrations that could lead to fatalities and disruption of normalcy in our country.

In my dream, I saw Ruto appointing Kenyans based on their qualifications and integrity as opposed to political affiliation.

Mr President, in leadership, sometimes the harshest critics are the voices that you should listen to, because loyalists will not dare tell the king that he is naked.

You should listen to religious bodies like the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) who have urged you to engage the Azimio leader to resolve the standoff that has led to anti-government protests.

As politicians become leaders, there is a risk of their ethics eroding due to the influence of power. Power has the ability to make one corrupt and more selfish. As a leader you impact the people you lead as they pick up on every subtle cue you send. They will pick up the negative cue of seclusion if you appoint people from only a certain region or people close to you.

You must weigh every single action as the public is always watching and making judgement. Mindfulness, selflessness, and compassion will make you humane.

During a media briefing during a State visit to South Africa on March 16, Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan gave reasons why she had decided to embrace the opposition.

She said a healthy relationship between the government and opposition will be forged through the 4R; Reconciliation, Resilience, Reform and Rebuilding. She said no one owns the title deed of Tanzania.

Leadership pioneer Peter Drucker said: You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first. He argues that leadership starts with your mind. By understanding how your mind works, you can lead yourself effectively. By understanding and leading yourself effectively you can understand others and be able to lead them more effectively. And by understanding and leading others more effectively, you can understand and lead your organisation (country) more effectively.

Mr President, when your mind says that you will institute austerity measures, it means that you walk the talk.  You either abolish the Cabinet Administrative Secretary positions or reduce the number.

When you say you want to stop government wastage, don’t allocate colossal amounts of money to buy new vehicles for the Executive.

Your actions should be altruistic, putting the interests of Kenya first and making decisions that have a positive impact on the majority.

You are the captain of the ship called Kenya until 2027, you can steer it towards an iceberg or to the shores of prosperity. The buck stops at your desk.

—The writer, Mathews Ocharo, is teacher based in Hong Kong