The Strange Rise of Uhuru Kenyatta
That Uhuru Kenyatta is now Kenya’s finance minister tells me only one thing: Kibaki is failing and the reason he is failing is because he is running out of ideas’. The reason he is running out of idea’s is because he has never formed a core set of values that defined him, the person; or him the man.
I have talked about this here before, especially in relation to Kalonzo Musyoka and I have said that Kenyan leaders seem to lack this knack for reading, intellectualism and thought– and when you lack these three things, it becomes difficult to define your leadership style.
This lack of a reading culture in Kenya is now becoming dangerous for the country because it is now becoming clear to me, that many of these politicians are not reading and when you don’t read, you end up with an empty brain — a brain devoid of idea’s, of thought, of anything. Even if you are the president or prime minister or whomever and you have people working for you, it is still imperative that you go home and read so that you can familiarize yourself with the broad range of issues, which you’ll have to confront while in office — issues of law and democracy, economics, finance, land, water, etc, etc….
Once you become a regular reader, you’ll begin to get ideas about these broad topics and it is at this time, that you’ll find yourself developing a core set of values about economic policy, about democracy, about poverty, etc, etc…. The reason this is important is because when you form your government, the direction of the country will emanate from these core set of values. Then, when you meet with your cabinet members, it is the president (as the head of government) who has to tell them what kind of country he wants to create and the ministers jobs will be to implement the presidents values. However, if your brain is empty and devoid of idea’s, you’ll end up with a government that reflects this emptiness. This has been Kenya’s problem since independence. We are being ruled by emptiness.
Exhibit A:
Moi was a semi-literate who had no core values besides being angry at Kikuyu’s and wanting to destroy them.
Kibaki also seems to have no core set of values. What does this man believe in?
Kalonzo is another one who seems to say nothing and has no ideas about anything besides believing that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead and used his wings to fly up into the gates of heaven.
How about Raila? I think Raila does have some core beliefs. I think he does believe in democracy and thinks Africa needs it. I don’t agree with him on this issue, but I think it’s a core belief he has. He has said that he favors a lighter version of capitalism, one that is tempered with government regulation and social policies for the poor. He himself has said that he spent his 10 years in prison reading and thinking and I submit to you, that, that is where he began to formulate his core belief’s about these broad issues. It comes from extensive reading. Now, would I vote for Raila today? only if he dumped Ruto and all the Kalenjins in ODM.
They are a few other politicians who seem to be readers and who do have core beliefs. I would put people like Martha Karua and Anyang Nyongo in this group.
It is easy to tell who these people are because they tend to have very clear thoughts about a broad range of issues, they can discuss these issues competently (because their regular reading has given them a command of the issues), they tend to be very opinionated when voicing these core beliefs, etc, etc….
I was never impressed with Kimunya. I’ve seen him give interviews and the guy’s stummering answers just told me that he was not a regular reader. Yes, he could talk about the Nairobi Stock Exchange and a few other things here and there, but beyond that, apana.
Uhuru Kenyatta is a little different in that he’s come from a more privileged background, has probably travelled around the world more extensively and will probably sound better in interviews, but is he really ready to head such a dockett?
These are just my rambling thoughts, now feel free to provide yours….
kenyatta allows moi to be prez.
moi asks kibz to break up opposition by forming DP. Promises to reward kibz.
moi chooses uhuru knowing well that kibz will win.
kibz continues sabotaging raila.
uhuru will be pushed as the young reformist candidiate in 2012
uhuru will in turn try to pave the way for moi’s sons or grandkids.
The Big Three (Kenyatta, Moi, Kibaki) are just Tribal Chiefs……..
You know its funny but for some time even Kibaki managed to fool me that he was not a Tribal Chief…. But I later realized they’re all the same…
Even Raila and Kalonzo showed their true self in a time to stand up for the Nation..
At the time……. Kalonzo ditched ODM and formed ODM Kenya I realized he’s also a Tribal Chief………
Then when Raila did not repudiate atrocities against particular Tribes …. I realized he’s also a Tribal Chief………..
Ruto is the Leader of the Tribal Chief Pack………. With his deputies being … Ole Ntimama, Henry Kosgey, Kiraitu Murungi………. Among Others…….
The characteristics of a tribal chief are very evident………… but the most striking is ……… Putting own interest ahead of the Nation..
Those are just too big shoes for Uhuru
I wonder if he subject of this story is appropriate. The last sentences are the only points put out about Uhuru Kenyatta and for that.
I think this is one dumb arse move made by Kibaki. Uhuru has a scanty background on economics even though he has never been involved in a scandal which makes me wonder, does it mean all the other capable MP’s on the PNU side are scandal tainted such that the president now has to get an inexperienced person to handle such a docket?
With this move, Kibaki has more or less elevated Uhuru as his prime candidate for presidency since Uhuru will now be in the big limelight region. He will get even more exposed and will command alot more audience. Well if history is not repeating itself, then I don’t know what this is all gonna turn out to be. It is not really a smart idea to front another kyuk for president for the next elections. This might backfire big time. Remember a similar thing back in 2000?
Pochahantas:
The whole piece is appropriate because these appointments tie into Kibaki’s overall leadership style, which seems to be characterized by a lack of core belief’s and core ideas and when that happens, you end up with these haphazard decision making processes, which will inevitably occur when you haven’t really thought about what it is you want to achieve.
It’s becoming clear that if the president himself doesn’t have a clear objective about how he wants to steer the country, the ministers are not going to do it for him. The leadership and direction has to come from the top.
This is why at most, the country could do with no more than 10 ministries and their jobs would primarily be to process licenses and paperwork for the public i.e. perform administrative functions.
Kibaki should have copied Augusto pinochet when it came to crafting economic policy. You hire 10 experts and you tell them to do what they have to do to fix the economy completely and thoroughly. Chile today is more like Europe, not Latin America.
The big ideas usually come from only a few people. Then you get the work-a-bee’s to implement the ideas (that would be kibaki’s job) — I sometimes think that Kibaki assumed that these ministers (some of whom barely made it through vocational school) were going to come up with the big ideas. It ain’t gonna happen. 90% of these ministers are not deep thinkers.
Look at a guy like Fred Gumo who is always threatening to beat people up and constantly asking people to prove if they are “real men” — is this a guy who is going to be crafting public policy in any ministry?
If Kibaki believes that Kamwana has a chance at the presidency then he has another think coming. No one beyond Gatundu will vote for him.
I agree with you that Kibaki has no objectives. But why are we surprised? The man never did. And please stop calling him a leader because he is not. He is weak and should not be in charge of anything even sheep. A leader does not ignore the plight of his people. A leader does not sit back while his country is being plundered.
As for Uhuru, I don’t think he is qualified to be finance minister. I prefer Kimunya towards whom I was initially ambivalent but later won my confidence as he tried to streamline the tax collector and attempted to tax MP’s. I know he is not perfect but…Its about time ministries were run by CEO’s.
My two cents.
NJERI,
I totally agree with you, Kibaki has no leadership skills, he sits and watches as kenya gets plundered, he is weak on issues, no real spine, maybe that’s why njonjo dislikes him.
Uhuru is just a clown, seriuosly, how can this guy be finance minister ? even he, himself knows he’s not qualified.
Kibaki should be impeached!!
If I were Kimunya, I would not have taken the cabinet seat. Over the past few months, Kenyans had began realizing that they had been duped by Orengo, Khalwale and others. Four years from now, Kimunya’s profile would have been squeaky clean considering the ongoing scandals in the Grand Coalition. I mean, does he really need the ministerial salary? Unfortunately, the old guards in Kenyan politics are working very hard to taint potential future leaders.
the best thing that we can ever do is stop judging the young man and give him all the necessary support, and ideas to make his efforts a success. Uhuru might be from a rich family, but realy, all his critics will agree with me that he is one of the most humble and unselfish MPs that we have. I have watched him speak and I like him. He is not a leader who just makes noise he talks on issues. the biggest problem with us kenyans is that we take the political noisemakers us the best performers. but history has taught us that all these noisemakers the likes of Raila,Orengo,Karua and the likes.thats why I would vote for Uhuru. NO one else
the best thing that we can ever do is stop judging the young man and give him all the necessary support, and ideas to make his efforts a success. Uhuru might be from a rich family, but realy, all his critics will agree with me that he is one of the most humble and unselfish MPs that we have. I have watched him speak and I like him. He is not a leader who just makes noise he talks on issues. the biggest problem with us kenyans is that we take the political noisemakers us the best performers. but history has taught us that all these noisemakers the likes of Raila,Orengo,Karua and the likes have no change agenda in mind.I have watched the case of IDPs and its only Uhuru among all the “honourables” who sacrificed his entire salary for their case.non of our MPS is poor, thats why Khalwale will never pay taxes because he fears being as miserable as his constituents.these are our reformers, arnt they?thats why I would vote for Uhuru. NO one else