A reminder that Kenya is still great

I spent this past week down South in Zimbabwe. On my first night, we were received by a taxi driver whose knowledge of the country’s socio-economic and political situation was extremely enlightening.

I later learned that he dropped out of university in his third year of medical school. His story while sad, is also a demonstration of the spirit to thrive in the midst of adversity, as he has moved on to establish and run a successful business.

Subsequent efforts to have him go back to school were unsuccessful as he determined that he needed to make the best of what life had thrown at him.

In discussions with him around 3 am when we arrived in the country, he was able to demonstrate the link between the state of development of a country and the quality of leadership.

While I was in the country for only a few days, the sight of the roads with numerous potholes was a permanent reminder of where Kenya was 20 years ago.

In 2002, Kenya’s infrastructure was in a dilapidated state. Two roads stick to my mind. Not because they were the worst. Indeed, both were tarmacked. However, the tarmac was more a source of danger to road users than it was an enabler.

These were the roads from Nairobi to Narok and the other from Nairobi to Nakuru. They had huge potholes, that even with all skill and care could barely be navigated by road users.

Seeing similar roads in my the country I was visiting made me reflect not on its development state — for one cannot assess that in one week — but what is great about Kenya.

While we need to be critical of our state of development and demand improvement, perspective is necessary for our discourse. That way we will be able to celebrate our status within the continent and appreciate how far we have come on the development journey.

On the flight back to Nairobi, I read a book shared with me by a family friend during a celebration event the previous week. The book titled, The Greatness Guide is written by Robert Sharma, renowned for his The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

It has life-changing lessons in all aspects from career to family to health. In one of the chapters, it urges us to have perspective in all we do.

It is important, for example, that as we approach the next General Elections, we recognise the journey we have travelled as a country and the power of our vote. Our vote will determine whether we spend the next five years regretting and blaming the leadership that will be in place or celebrating our actions.

Way too often, we pass the buck to others without appreciating the power that we have as citizens. As a friend of mine told me just two days ago, in a world where communication and marketing are key to electoral choices, being perceptive is fundamental for decision making.

We may disagree on our choices for leadership for the country, as that is what democracy is about. However, we should never lose sight of the vantage point the country occupies in the community of nations and its leadership within the continent. One need only travel to other countries as I did, to get reminded of this point.

Consequently, in making our decisions we must not negotiate on the environment in which those choices are made. The requirement of peace is non-negotiable and must be guarded by all citizens of the country. Any attempts to push citizens into violent acts must be resisted at all costs.

Thirdly we need to set ourselves a national target of where we would like this country to be within the next five years. Having done so, we must ask ourselves what our induvial role is going to be on that journey to ensure that we maintain our status as a country and build on and not detract from it.

This is only possible if we avoid the temptation to lose our heads during what is described as the silly season. One where we get swallowed by politicking, fail to realise that all said and done and despite our myriad problems, Kenya is still a beautiful country.