Who do our leaders think they are?

“You should know people!” That simple statement brought down Nancy Baraza from the lofty perch of deputy chief justice.

Or was it the now immortalised act or pinching security guard Rebecca Kerubo’s nose for having the cheek to search her at a mall? Enter Cord co-principal, Senate Minority Leader, Bungoma senator, former foreign minister, Flying Blue platinum cardholder, owner of five credit cards and all-round important Kenyan Moses Wetang’ula.

He and his club of parliamentary speakers and 20 colleagues held a Mombasa-bound plane hostage for three hours because the good senator couldn’t produce his national identification card. Kenya Airways insists on photo identification for local flights because global aviation requirements insist on it.

There are even signs posted near the gates and inside the terminal asking passengers to produce their IDs. But Senator Wetang’ula somehow had his platinum frequent-flier card, a dizzying number of credit cards, his Parliament medical card but not his ID.

The airport scene is exactly what you would expect from an individual so accustomed to privilege that they have come to expect it – entitlement. A man who represents one of the poorest counties — in fact, poorer than the national average — reminding us all how wealthy and powerful he is.

It would be excusable if it were the exception rather than a trend, this unabashed privilege bubble, but it isn’t. As a society, Kenya has allowed its leaders, the rich and powerful among us, to live as if rules don’t apply to them.

EXPLOIT MASS IGNORANCE

They lord it over you on the roads, with their sirens and road-clearing goons, while you cower subserviently in endless traffic jams. They take over your weddings and funerals, shouting themselves hoarse about worthless political ideologies, while your ceremonies remain suspended.

They insulate themselves in Parliament and within their pseudo ivory towers, disconnected from everyday life yet exploiting the ignorance and submissiveness of the masses. Why do they get away with this? Because you let them.

Because you secretly hope for that life too, someday.

I can only assume that our shameless admiration for authority and influence, and abuse of the same when we achieve it is part of our Kenyan culture. By far the most notorious honorific is Mheshimiwa; so evenly disgraced and undistinguished that it might as well mean the exact opposite.

DISHONOURABLE

In the Kenyan context, Mheshimiwa is almost always attached to a dishonourable individual of such ill repute, it’s almost offensive. Or maybe we keep using it because we’re all in on the joke and they aren’t, so we’re just mocking them.

Leadership, especially those to whom public leadership is entrusted, is supposed to be an opportunity to do good in the world and serve people. Servant leadership is a counterintuitive philosophy that places the needs of the led at the top of the pyramid, not the “accumulation and exercise of power by those at the top of the pyramid”.

People elect representatives to serve them, not to be their gods. Instead, they end up with good-for-nothing entitled overlords hell-bent on enriching themselves and protecting their empires. Truly, there are only two tribes in Kenya – the haves and the have-nots.

Admittedly, the rich and powerful live by different rules almost everywhere else in the world. Money, a famous last name, a high office or in the absence of all these, a big bum are all tickets to instant privilege these days.

The oft-quoted, “To whom much is given, much is required”, is only good for the speaking circuit, not really living by. But a society where the wealthiest few get whatever they want and the poor majority make do with whatever is left is deeply flawed.

In unequal set-ups like ours, the excesses of the 1 per cent couldn’t be more obscene, considering the utter hopelessness of so many. But then again, the entitled aren’t known for their conscientiousness or their regard for those at the lowest end of the pyramid.

In a world where VIP is the ultimate symbol of status, humility is for losers. The currency for this narcissistic top crop of our society is a premium experience for everything, and if it is not available for sale, then you can just create it by whatever means necessary.

Recognition and privilege are the sine qua non of their pitiful existence; wealthy and powerful, yet still inadequate.

Madowo is the technology editor at NTV ([email protected])