Visionary leadership is Key to the building of an inclusive nation

National unity is a song in the mouths of many politicians in Kenya. It’s an aspiration that has been there since time immemorial. The fathers of this nation envisaged a solid entity with no fragments whatsoever. They laid down systems and structures and implementation formula to achieve this. At independence, it was all excitement, a nation was born. Government and governance were upon our shoulders. We could re-imagine our destiny together as a nation.  We were united in our bid to pursue a common goal of a shared prosperity. It was this unity that led to the attainment of our independence. There was an aura of optimism registered in everyone’s heart.

We can glean these aspirations from Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s speech on 27 May 1963, after he won elections and months before independence:

“On this momentous day, which set Kenya on the final stage before independence, I ask the cooperation of every man and woman in this land to help build a new nation.

We aim to create a fair society, where no citizen need suffer in sickness because he cannot pay for treatment. We believe that no child should go without education merely because his family is poor. It will be the government intention to do away with the terrible poverty of so many of our people.

We do not expect to do all this from foreign charity. We are not going to compromise our independence by begging for assistance. The government will make it clear that our progress, our hope, our ambitions will only be fulfilled if we have hard work from every citizen.” (From Africa Renewal: August 2010)

What is it that kept us together? It must have been a common purpose, a shared dream and vision. Our leaders then identified what they thought was plaguing us as a nation. They understood that if poverty, ignorance and disease, were ruthlessly fought, we could be better off as a country. The nation was a unit, strong, with numerous potential to make every citizen realize their potential.

There were all reasons for us not to be united. We were different, the ethnic composition of Kenya was, as it is today, only smaller in population. We had collaborators and resistants’ to the British rule. But the realization that public services could improve, we could work together to build industries, our children could realize their dreams here at home, the rights of everyone could be respected and promoted, kept us united and striving to make Kenya work for all regardless of their diverse background.

However, this wave of unity was short lived as our leaders started pursuing different miniature agendas that veered off from the common goal and purpose as was envisaged during the struggle for independence. They got distracted and with that distraction, we lost our common purpose of pursuing a shared prosperity. Kenya became a nation just by name but fragments of “small nations” in reality. Instead of a struggle for independence, we metamorphosed to a new kind of a struggle. A struggle for inclusion!

National resources became unreachable to some communities deemed as minorities simply because they could not marshal ‘enough’ numbers to enable them get ‘one of their own’ a seat at the table where key decisions were made about development. As others prospered, others were left behind. For a long time since then, we have had a nation where some feel ‘more Kenyans’ and others feel ‘less Kenyans’. And with it there have been ethnic clashes; mostly fueled by a fight for inclusion and a share of resources, we have had post-election violence; caused by the need for fair representation, we have grappled with issues of abuse of human rights, corruption, hunger, diseases and even an increase in unemployment for our growing youthful population.

I dare say that these problems have persisted and they probably will be here with us until we get a leadership that will rally us into a common purpose that resonates with every Kenyan regardless of their ethnicity, ability, gender or age. This leadership will have to demonstrate their willingness, political goodwill and a commitment to pursue this purpose to its realization. It will be the surest way to have everyone waking up every day to their work stations proud to belong to a nation whose leadership is given to thinking about, strategizing, implementing goals and projects that at the end of the day, will improve the life and experience of every citizen.

This is the way to building an inclusive nation and to lasting national unity.