Stop lamenting about integrity of MPs, do something about it

Kenyans demonstrate in Nakuru Town on August 17, 2018 against MPs who are alleged to have accepted bribes to throw out a report on the safety of the sugar in the market. PHOTO | AYUB MUIYURO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Integrity is a word we hear every day but spend very little time thinking about. Integrity is at the core of successful leadership.
  • Integrity, by definition, is being honest and honourable. It is being truthful and consistent in word and action regardless of the situation.

The bribery allegations facing MPs haven’t come as a surprise to many Kenyans.

What surprised them is just how cheap our MPs are and how low they are willing to go.

Even in the midst of a graft purge, they remain unshaken and unwavering in their pursuit of selfish gain.

Our country is surely in trouble due to lack of integrity.

Sh10,000! That’s how much it took for some of our MPs to throw Kenyans, the very people who braved the cold and the heat of August 8 last year to elect them, under the bus.

INTEGRITY

Once again, our MPs spat in our faces, showing us we are unworthy of their respect or attention.

For Sh10,000, they sold their souls to advance their cause, caring little for the “mwananchi” who is at risk of consuming contaminated sugar. We were reminded again that we are on our own.

Integrity is a word we hear every day but spend very little time thinking about. Integrity is at the core of successful leadership.

In fact, the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said:

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

It has been years since this statement was made but time hasn’t watered down the importance of integrity as a leadership trait.

WANANCHI TO BLAME

Integrity, by definition, is being honest and honourable. It is being truthful and consistent in word and action regardless of the situation.

In practice, integrity produces honour, truth and reliability at all times and, for a fact, it is only courageous people who can practise integrity.

Integrity is the most basic requirement of leadership. But why is it so rare in our leadership circles?

Has integrity ever been there to begin with? Where’s the courage that is required to do the right thing at all times regardless of the cost?

One, we ourselves lack integrity and, as a result, we don’t expect integrity from our leaders.

We know not what integrity is nor how it looks like in practice. The fact is those bribe-taking leaders are a reflection of who we are.

There’s no running away from this. We can only change it.

REWARDS

During election campaigns, they came round our neighbourhoods, asking us for our vote.

We had the option of choosing those with integrity but most of us decided to vote otherwise.

Let us now eat the fruit of our labour in silence. Two, we don’t demand integrity. People treat you the way you allow them to treat you.

Our “honourable” MPs have been testing the waters and have seen that we’ll make noise albeit for a while before we are distracted by the next “hot” item.

When will we get tired of being treated like this?

If we really understood how much integrity costs us as a nation, our leaders would crumble under the weight of our “integrity expectations manual”.

Three, our society seemingly rewards lack of integrity. Rewards come in form of privileges, lucrative posts and pre-meditated cash bails.

CHANGE

Instead of exposing the truth, our leaders try to conceal it with fierce loyalty to one another and by breaking the law.

So how do we change this narrative? How can we ensure that integrity takes up a spot in our leaders’ lives?

The fight begins with us, Kenyans. We need to change how we think about integrity; its role and place in our lives.

We must ask ourselves, “What kind of country do we want to live in and are we willing to make the sacrifice to get it?” This is because our thoughts determine our level of integrity.

James Allen said that: "By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascents to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descents below the level of a beast.”

CONVICTION

When we think right about integrity and practise it as part of our daily lives, we will expect the same from our leaders.

We also need to pray for our leaders. That God in heaven will give them wisdom and convict them of their sin, causing it to pierce their souls to better decisions.

Integrity is a highly personal decision. Our leaders must decide as individuals to be a people of integrity. No one can force them. Fortunately for us, we have power to create an environment where integrity is revered.

We just need to use it. Kenya is made up of millions of people.

Imagine the change we would ignite if we decided to elect leaders of integrity! One thing for sure, our House won’t be one of bribes!

Ms Wanjohi is the founder, Mazingira Safi Initiative. [email protected].