Leadership must be guided by law, let’s tell that to youth

I work in an institution filled with young people who are eager to learn everything and anything. They look everywhere for new experiences and examples. The majority of them are continually in need of mentoring and they often receive such mentorship with gratitude.

Indeed a lot of them are constantly on the lookout for role models in all fields of endeavour depending on the interest of each one of them.

Those in the humanities admire and like to imitate successful economists, captains of industry and the like. Those in the technical courses are keen to know something about successful engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and so on.

Among them there is a good group of them who have a tendency towards political leadership and these will be found in all those groups. These ones are forever looking with admiration at our political leaders hoping to find role models.

Last Monday morning was an eventful one around where our institution is located in the Central Business District of the capital city. Opposition leaders had led their supporters to the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission which are not far from us. The bone of contention was that the current commissioners of that constitutional commission should go home.

UGLY CONFRONTATION

What unfolded was a major ugly confrontation between the protesters and the police. It was a sight that reminded me of the Moi days when we struggled against an oppressive regime.

The day we promulgated our new Constitution in 2010 remains and will always be a historic moment in my mind and heart. It was a defining moment in our social, cultural political and even economic evolution.

To me it marked the beginning of a new era in which the behaviour of all of us is guided by the rule of law and decency. Many of the young people we teach today in schools and even at university have no clue what I mean when I talk about the Moi days.

As such when we bring back political practices and behaviour patterns – which may have been relevant then – they will think that this is the way political operations and leadership are done.

All adults have a duty to mentor our younger people and our politicians are not exempt from this responsibility.

They must stop looking at our young people as instruments to be used during political confrontations but as a resource that must be prepared for a civilised future leadership of this country.

Leadership must always be practiced within the prescriptions of our supreme law and through the defined institutions of governance.

Arguments about whether the IEBC or other Constitutional Commissions should remain or be disbanded do not belong to the streets.

Fr Wamugunda is dean of students, University of Nairobi; [email protected]