He is a President like no other. He is not from a pedigree family. In his childhood, his family had financial difficulties and they were evicted three times. He worked in primary school to pay for his school materials and for pocket money. When he was 12 years old, he started working in his father’s furniture workshop.
Before joining politics, he was a local furniture builder and exporter. He was first elected mayor of a medium sized city and then he was elected governor. Joko Widodo (Jokoki) is now the President of Indonesia, having won 53.15 per cent of the 135 million votes. He challenged and decisively beat a former special forces general.
When he was first elected mayor, Jokowi made reforms in local governance, resisted corruption and streamlined the local business environment. He prohibited his family members from bidding for city projects. He built new traditional markets. He promoted the city as a centre for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) to attract income and investments. He rebranded the city as “the spirit of Java” and showcased Javanese culture to boost earnings from tourism. In the process, he did not alienate the masses. As a result, he won more than 90 per cent of the votes in his re-election.
Due to his success as mayor, his party nominated him to and he won the election for Governor of Jakarta. As governor, Jokoki regularly visited rural areas dressed casually. During such visits, he spent time in the markets and walked along narrow lanes in Jakarta chatting with people about problems facing them. He discussed with them their challenges of food pricing, housing, flooding and transport.
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, is also a man of humble beginnings. As a child and teenager, he helped his father and brother sell tea. He became interested in and started following politics when he was eight years old.
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Long before he became Prime Minister, Modi, like Jokowi, was a poster boy of successful local governance. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001. He served the longest time than any other person in that position.
During his tenure, he turned around the fortunes of the Gujarat State. He introduced, implemented and perfected economic policies that saw high economic growth rates in Gujarat. He introduced financial and technological parks making the State an attractive investment destination. Corruption in the State went down significantly.
During campaigns for his party and for the post of Prime Minister, supporters paid entrance fees to attend his campaign rallies. Tickets to his rallies were sold out long before the event. He was paid an attendance fee for each rally.
Modi and Jokowi have a lot in common. Humble beginnings. Good governance records at the regional level. Their stand, both by word and action, against corruption. They decisively won top office on their first try when the odds and history stood against them. Both their competitors were part of the system in governance. Neither Modi or Jokowi boasted a war chest of funds when going into the presidential election.
They both won the minds, hearts, and votes of the commoners. Not by words. Not by expensive campaigns and hand-outs. Not by playing poker with the system but by changing the lots of the citizens they governed at the regional level. And through this, they’ve been given a chance to change the pockets of the struggling citizens at the national level.
What do rainbows have in common? They are the candle in the darkness. The dash of color when we most need it. The silver lining against the grey cloud. They appear when all hopes seems to be lost. India and Indonesia have caught theirs. Will Kenya?
