Conduct of leaders in public unbecoming

NAIROBI: The Government ought to bring the Leadership and Integrity Act to bear if we expect to see leaders carry themselves with decorum.

Elected leaders have continued to misbehave publicly and act with impunity in the guise of fighting corruption.

It is in the public domain that corruption is endemic in the country and most of those labelling others as corrupt are not above reproach.

Only a few weeks after Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter caused public furore by the manner in which he chose to fight corruption at a weighbridge in Gilgil, Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko caused commotion at the Nairobi Governor's office on Tuesday by purporting to have evidence of corruption against the governor Evans Kidero.

Be that as it may, there are avenues through which such issues can be solved without causing a public spectacle.

Mr Sonko is a Member of the Senate, an institution that is mandated to play an oversight role over Governors.

There exists rules of engagement and channels of conflict resolution that the Senator should have followed if he had the conviction his concerns were genuine.

Matters of corruption are better solved by courts of law as opposed to the cheap publicity gained when all manner of grievances are put to the public.

Since when did the public become the judge in corruption cases anyway?

A trend is being set where leaders use rowdy mobs to settle their personal differences.

The Narok County demonstration case in which a man was shot dead by the police in the ensuing melee offers the latest example of how leaders use the public to cause tension.

This trend is not only worrying, it leads the larger public to believe the only way to get attention is to create ugly scenes that often end up in violence.

There is no other expectation than incitement to violence when leaders wash their dirty linen in public.

For the maintenance of law and order, leaders must watch their conduct in public, while adhering to the rule of law.