Use Kibaki’s playbook to steer county forward

Occasionally, media houses survey what direction a country is headed. The results indicate the heartbeat of the land. After all, in the spiral of silence, Noelle-Neumann hypothesised that the expressed majority opinion often makes its way to the media and becomes the reigning thought as the minority opinion recedes from public discourse.

This self-fulfilling prophecy enables a country to move forward with confidence. Many factors drive this hope, and not the least, the leader’s charisma. Consider Ronald Reagan’s optimism, Nelson Mandela’s hope for a better South Africa, and Winston Churchill’s undying belief that the Allied forces would triumph. More recently, the audacity of the skinny kid with a funny name, Barack Obama, scaling the heights of American leadership.

But to create a sense of hope and give confidence to a nation that better days lie ahead requires more than just a few dedicated keyboard warriors. The substance of a dream presented to the nation gives them something to hold on to. It is what the Mwai Kibaki presidency bequeathed this land during his decade in State House. Vision 2030 captured the imagination of the leadership of the country.

The beauty of the Kibaki dream is that it emphasised the direction of what Kenya would become with little emphasis on the cost. Since the country had bought into what they would find at the end of the vision – Thika Highway, Universal Education, and all – it did not pain as much when eventually the cost was factored in. Kulipa ushuru ni kujtegemea.

That is not where we seem to be as a country today. Where the country is headed, if asked today, would elicit interesting responses. We have so much religion in the public space, but without the faith that should go with it, leaders but whose charisma has dipped somewhat blown away by dented credibility gap and with rhetoric that would hardly pass Socrates’ test.

What is needed now is for leaders to shut up and work for the people. Kibaki still provides a good playbook from which to borrow. He hardly spoke, but earth movers were on Thika Rd realising the dream; children trooped to schools with hardly a shilling in their hands because universal education was free; politicians squabbled, but the Constitution was being written anyway, and Members of Parliament felt empowered that Constituency Development Fund was disbursed. And the economy grew, not because he said it, but because the shilling seemed to go a little further.

Kibaki just hung around State House with seemingly nowhere to go. It is this optimism that Kenya needs to rediscover to bring back a spring in people’s steps. The focus on housing may be fine, but housing is yet to capture the country’s imagination. The notion that a three per cent deduction from people’s payslips will eventually result in an individual owning a house, any house, is too good to be true. The adage when the deal seems to be too good, then think twice comes into play.

The government has sold the pain without the dream in the housing project. It has not helped that alongside it, the government has promised other projects with such short timelines that the timelines have lapsed without anything tangible being realised, fuelling the notion that the housing project is just another one on the long list.

It is necessary to bring back the feel-good factor, the hope, the dream that tomorrow will be a better day. The government has staffed its army of communication teams with former journalists, but while good journalists have many good qualities, of keeping power in check, asking searching questions, and keeping deadlines, communication – any communication is way more than journalism. It is having that global picture of what to promise that Kenya needs to reset the nation’s mood.— The writer is Dean, School of Communication, Daystar Univer

Occasionally, media houses survey what direction a country is headed. The results indicate the heartbeat of the land. After all, in the spiral of silence, Noelle-Neumann hypothesised that the expressed majority opinion often makes its way to the media and becomes the reigning thought as the minority opinion recedes from public discourse.

This self-fulfilling prophecy enables a country to move forward with confidence. Many factors drive this hope, and not the least, the leader’s charisma. Consider Ronald Reagan’s optimism, Nelson Mandela’s hope for a better South Africa, and Winston Churchill’s undying belief that the Allied forces would triumph. More recently, the audacity of the skinny kid with a funny name, Barack Obama, scaling the heights of American leadership.

But to create a sense of hope and give confidence to a nation that better days lie ahead requires more than just a few dedicated keyboard warriors. The substance of a dream presented to the nation gives them something to hold on to. It is what the Mwai Kibaki presidency bequeathed this land during his decade in State House. Vision 2030 captured the imagination of the leadership of the country.

The beauty of the Kibaki dream is that it emphasised the direction of what Kenya would become with little emphasis on the cost. Since the country had bought into what they would find at the end of the vision – Thika Highway, Universal Education, and all – it did not pain as much when eventually the cost was factored in. Kulipa ushuru ni kujtegemea.

That is not where we seem to be as a country today. Where the country is headed, if asked today, would elicit interesting responses. We have so much religion in the public space, but without the faith that should go with it, leaders but whose charisma has dipped somewhat blown away by dented credibility gap and with rhetoric that would hardly pass Socrates’ test.

What is needed now is for leaders to shut up and work for the people. Kibaki still provides a good playbook from which to borrow. He hardly spoke, but earth movers were on Thika Rd realising the dream; children trooped to schools with hardly a shilling in their hands because universal education was free; politicians squabbled, but the Constitution was being written anyway, and Members of Parliament felt empowered that Constituency Development Fund was disbursed. And the economy grew, not because he said it, but because the shilling seemed to go a little further.

Kibaki just hung around State House with seemingly nowhere to go. It is this optimism that Kenya needs to rediscover to bring back a spring in people’s steps. The focus on housing may be fine, but housing is yet to capture the country’s imagination. The notion that a three per cent deduction from people’s payslips will eventually result in an individual owning a house, any house, is too good to be true. The adage when the deal seems to be too good, then think twice comes into play.

The government has sold the pain without the dream in the housing project. It has not helped that alongside it, the government has promised other projects with such short timelines that the timelines have lapsed without anything tangible being realised, fuelling the notion that the housing project is just another one on the long list.

It is necessary to bring back the feel-good factor, the hope, the dream that tomorrow will be a better day. The government has staffed its army of communication teams with former journalists, but while good journalists have many good qualities, of keeping power in check, asking searching questions, and keeping deadlines, communication – any communication is way more than journalism. It is having that global picture of what to promise that Kenya needs to reset the nation’s mood.— The writer is Dean, School of Communication, Daystar University.