Kenya on right track but leaders need to grow up

Happy 51st birthday, Kenya! It has been a long bumpy ride, with many ups and downs, but one expects that we are still happy to be here.

People born on December 12 1963 can no longer consider themselves young. Most will have reached the end of their reproductive (but not productive!) lives, and will be concentrating on bringing up their children and even grandchildren at this time.

Erik Erikson, in his stages of psychosocial development, places 51-year-olds in the stage of middle adulthood, where the main task is really to grow up. One is expected to have settled down domestically and in a career, and to develop a sense of being part of the bigger picture.

One’s role in society at this stage is to raise their families and be productive, as well as to get involved in social responsibility ventures. Their true value at this stage of development is measured by the impact they have on the communities around them, and this stage shapes the sort of legacy they shall leave behind when they age and eventually die.

Let us assess Kenya as if she were a human being, navigating the stages of psychosocial development as envisaged by Erik Erikson.

Are you, as a nation, settling down into your role in the community of nations, impacting positively on those around you and raising your citizens to be globally responsible? Can you boast of healthy relationships that involve a bit of self-sacrifice in order to boost the common good?

SUFFICIENT RESOURCES

Are you exploiting your true potential and generating sufficient resources to ensure continued growth and development several generations hence? My sense is that just like the average adult, you present a mixed bag of outcomes.

You are making attempts to settle down and grow up. While this is hampered on and off by your local and international temper tantrums, the general feeling is that you are still growing in a positive way, learning as you go along.

You may be moving slower than one would expect, but you are moving nevertheless.

There are areas in which you could do better, though. You are lagging behind in the area of domestic responsibilities, for instance. You are still largely a nation of selfish toddlers, whose first instinct is to grab everything in the vicinity and cry “mine, mine!” You are having trouble teaching the citizens that there is something greater than themselves or their tribes. Every time you have a self-authored cataclysm you shake your head and murmur under your breath that you shall do better next time. Unfortunately you keep repeating the same mistakes.

ACT YOUR AGE

Going forward, what can you do to avoid getting mired in the sense of stagnation that comes with failure to successfully navigate this stage? You could begin by acting your age! Let us see more wisdom and less posturing from now henceforth. Project some maturity in your public pronouncements, rather than the immature rantings that sometimes characterise your communication with the outside world.

Let us see more positive action to protect the vulnerable citizens, instead of blaming them and punishing them for displaying their vulnerability. Demonstrate a sense of purpose in everything you do, keeping an eye on the kind of future you are tying to build for the next generations. Otherwise you will only grow into a grumpy geezer constantly reciting a litany of ‘could-have-beens’ and near misses.

Dr Lukoye Atwoli is Consultant Psychiatrist and Dean, Moi University School of Medicine; [email protected]