Ethics a high calling for any family business

The face of the woman on NTV’s Bull’s Eye told it all – hardened by circumstances, she spoke as one embittered by the cards life had dealt her.

With no kind words for unproductive irresponsible men in her locality, she harshly justified the spate of male organ mutilations and issued a chilling warning – given an opportunity, she would do the same to the men around her even at the risk of imprisonment.

The cause of the bitterness was clear; healthy men of working age who are so enslaved to poisonous alcoholic beverages that they are unable to fulfil their marital responsibilities.

So pressing is this problem in some rural areas and low income neighbourhoods that women have taken to forming marauding mobs to seek and destroy the drinking dens that are responsible for this sad state of affairs.

Kenya is not the first country to encounter the debilitating effects of alcohol. Early in the last century the US – alarmed by the spread of alcoholism, drug abuse, addiction to gambling and other social ills – resolved to outlaw (through a statute commonly known as the Prohibition) the sale, production, importation and transportation of alcoholic beverages.

While the desired effect was to minimise consumption of alcohol, the legislation (which proved extremely difficult to enforce) resulted in a growing black market and the proliferation of criminal gangs such as the mafia that profited from the distribution of bootleg liquor. It failed and was repealed 20 years later.

Kenyan politicians, startled by the real prospect of the depopulation of their strongholds on account of alcoholism, recently took it upon themselves to find and destroy what they described as second-generation liquor.

The raids, sadly, did not discriminate between licensed outlets stocking government-approved alcohol and those engaged in illicit brewing and distribution. This led to a number of genuine family-owned businesses losing property and money; these now face an uncertain future.

There are family ventures whose business is the production, distribution or retail of products that pose an immediate hazard to the health of their consumers.

Even sadder is that the leaders of these ventures would never consume the wares they peddle, much less willingly allow loved ones to access these products. Preaching cheap unsafe spirits but drinking safe wine or fresh water, they are the ultimate unethical Leaders of Family Business.

The highest duty of any Leader of Family Business is to resolve the ethical dilemmas regarding what the family should or should not do in its quest for profits. Family businesses should not engage in the production, distribution or promotion of products whose ordinary use places their consumers’ lives in danger.

Should they feel righteous indignation against social ills brought on by the sale of such goods, Leaders of Family Business must not act outside the law or find themselves part of destructive mobs as they express their displeasure.

Profitable as it may be, no venture that seeks to enslave its consumers by making them addicts to harmful products should feature in the portfolio of any family business. Leaders of Family Business should not offer for sale products that they would not allow themselves or their loved ones to consume.

While almost any product or service can be abused by the user, it is immoral for a business to sell products whose prescribed use is harmful to customers.

When faced by problems that affect large segments of the population Leaders of Family Business should resist the temptation to react in anger. They must carefully inquire into the source of the problem, the people affected and how it can be resolved conclusively.

Leaders of Family Business must never be deceived into acting outside the law to solve social problems that have known legal and legislative remedies. Remembering their high standing in society, they should resist the temptation to join hooligans in acts of anarchy.

Mutua is a Humphrey Fellow, leadership development consultant and author of the book “The African Prince” available on Amazon Kindle. [email protected]