Leaders are a reflection of a society

Values define both individuals and societies. With the right values, the well being of a society is guaranteed. Conversely, when a society subscribes to base values, its future and the welfare of its members are in jeopardy. Values such as accountability, transparency, austerity, equality, good governance among others have, since time immemorial, been part and parcel of progressive societies.

Consequently before decrying the proliferation of vices such as graft, profligacy, negative ethnicity, insensitivity among others among their leaders, Kenyans must first call to mind the fact that leaders do no descent from Mars or any other planet. They come from among us and their way of doing things is largely a reflection of ourselves.

Any keen observer must have noticed a somewhat strange, if not annoying trend, among Kenyans. Unlike societies where so much value is placed on accountability, the impression we Kenyans are giving is that we don't find it imperative to hold people to account.

Picture this. A man who is working in the public service and earning less than Sh30,000 a month shows up in the village with his newly-acquired top of the range fuel guzzler. He may go ahead and put up a state-of-the-art maisonette or bungalow within a very short while in the village. Dazed and dazzled by 'one of their own's' instant display of power and wealth, the villagers send a delegation of elders to their 'prominent' son to implore him to consider being their elected representative in some big office.

This is notwithstanding the fact that there's no way their son, who is a middle-level civil servant, can afford the car he is now zooming in and the house he has constructed even if he were to save 90 per cent of his salary every month for the rest of his working life. The fact that he has not taken any loan from his employer or bank further leaves many questions as to how he managed to acquire the multi-million limousine and the magnificent house he now lays claim to. But to the villagers, the end justifies the means. The fact that their son has made it big is all that matters. How he made his way to big money is a non-issue over which time should not be wasted. In fact he now becomes the village heroe to be showcased to neighbouring villages who thought they are the only ones who produce prominent sons.

Those among us who raise the red flag each time they feel things are not right are labelled traitors and have to contend with all manner of insults. In Michela Wrong's, "It Is Our Turn To Eat," former Ethics and Anti-graft permanent secretary John Githongo shares of how immediately the Narc government rode to power in 2003, some of its top honchos were purchasing several multi-million properties in Nairobi's leafy suburbs at ago. This struck him as strange. However, each time he tried to establish the source of this questionable millions, he was always met with unflagging resistance and veiled threats on his life. Feeling lonely, dejected, increasingly being viewed as the enemy within and with a conscience that could not allow him to sit and watch as public resources were salted away into individual pockets, Githongo resigned and went into exile.

In reacting to Githongo's brave move, a section of Kenyans hurled unprintable abuses at him. From being branded unpatriotic to being labelled a malignant colonial relic dutifully doing his masters bidding, Githongo heard and saw it all. Yet what he had done was to say no to pilferage of public resources. Like him or hate him, there's no denying that he represents the very few among us whose conscience can't stand the sight of ill-gotten wealth. He is a rare jewel,  the epitome of transparency, a champion of sound governance.

In countries such as Norway, Denmark and many others accountability is one of the values held in high esteem. In Norway if a public servant whose known sources of income can hardly enable him or her procure certain assets, instantly purchases, say a very expensive car, he will have to give a detailed explanation of how he managed to acquire the car. And if he cannot proffer a convincing explanation to the anti-corruption authorities, the car will be confiscated and he will, in all likelihood, be arraigned in court on graft charges. Needless to say this has drastically cut down on graft leaving Norway one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

Back to Kenyans, there is an urgent need for us to thoroughly interrogate our values. The truth is that those serving in middle level offices and are corrupt will carry the same attribute to a bigger office once elected. Kenyans should learn to ask questions and seek answers. Blindly entrusting people who have stolen from state coffers with more resources and complaining when they further loot the public purse reflects badly on us.