It’s time for new political model in Kenya

A lot has been happening in the nation recently, from the political party nominations, to food prices rising to astronomical levels.

One thing that I notice that has been consistently missing from the national space is discussions on humanism, humanity, who we are as a people and what life means to us.

These are not empty questions; they determine everything that we do and all actions that we take.

MEDICAL CARE
I have had the opportunity to live outside Kenya in countries that are extremely humane in their orientation, whether it be to locals or foreigners.

As a student in the UK, I was allowed to access their health care system, which is among the best in the world, for free.

In Kenya by comparison, not only are Kenyans denied proper health care due to lack of money — private health care is the most efficient and effective — the doctors and nurses themselves in some of these institutions, too, have not been able to afford this health care themselves.

As I write this piece, I am in Dar es Salaam, a place that has long carried the torch for humanism in Africa.

Of course the person who gave this country this legacy is its founding father, Julius Nyerere.

FRESH FACES
As we go to the polls, the question on my mind is if we will achieve a more humane governance system.

It is a question that has preoccupied me for a while and I have even embarked on my own experiments in the past, to investigate how the political system can evolve into a new way of being.

Even though for a long time, tribalism, raw power and violence have seemed to be the only ways through which one can make it in Kenyan and African politics, we’re already seeing a shift in how things are done.

Perhaps the person that most embodies this shift is Senator Mike Sonko, who is currently running to be Nairobi governor.

A lot of my learned and intellectual friends decry his methods and point out everything wrong with Sonko’s approach.

LEADERSHIP

To date, however, they have not convinced me that there is anything wrong with his style.

When I look at Mike Sonko, I see a man on fire for the cause of his people, I see a man that has transcended himself.

He might not have gotten the straight As or speak in proper queen’s English but his actions have proved that his heart is in the right place.

From rescuing mama mbogas getting harassed by the city council, to financially bailing out market people when their stalls get burnt in accidental fires.

He is not perfect, of course, but his legend stands as someone who understands that leadership is really the attempt to uplift one’s fellow man or woman, rather than pontificating on problems in glitzy boardrooms.

AUTOCRACY

Outside of Kenya, we have another pro-poor personality; Julius Malema.

I don’t know where these individuals make their money from but they have something of the outlaw about them, which attracts me to them immensely.

They are not the conventional moneyed folk who simply want to conserve their wealth and make more, they are driven by a bigger duty toward their societies.

In Africa, we have normalised the style of the despots and dictators as the only style of ruling.

We were even quite glad that former president Moi retired peacefully without trying to hold onto power.

NEW ERA

Yet Julius Nyerere was an example that one could rule without brandishing one’s power all over the place; by actively seeking to make a difference.

It is time for us to shift the style and model of leadership in this country.

This change, however, will not come from the political field alone, citizens must also play a part in creating space for the new leadership.

Things look bright already and as we are seeing the disruption of politics globally (Donald Trump, Jimmy Morales), it is only a short time before this kind of change finds its way in Africa.

The writer is a journalist based in Nairobi