Only insecure, ineffective leaders need sycophants

A key dilemma facing most insecure leaders is how to get accurate information and effectively implement their agenda. Because of their fear of independently popular politicians, such leaders often surround themselves with “Yes Men” and “test tube” politicians who only tell them what they want to hear. They also tend to hire staff based not on competence but loyalty. For this reason, insecure leaders are always doomed to failure on account of their lack of access to accurate information, isolation from the grassroots, and inability to implement their agenda due to competence gaps among their staff. Strong leaders, on the other hand, tend to surround themselves with the most competent advisers and staff who never shy away from telling the boss the truth.

Looking at Kenya’s political history, there are examples of both kinds of leaders. President Kenyatta was a strong leader and, therefore, did not bother to surround himself with ‘Yes Men’. He had the Kiambu “family” around him, but he also kept people like Mboya, Njonjo, Moi and Kibaki close. Furthermore, Kenyatta largely left his ministers to their own devices, and only once did he ever fire a Cabinet minister. Following Kenyatta’s death, Moi came to power under precarious circumstances only having barely survived the GEMA-inspired Change the Constitution Movement in the mid-1970s. The coup attempt in 1982 only added fuel to the flames of Moi’s insecurity. As such, his 24-year rein offered countless examples of sycophants. Chotara, Lotodo, Barng’etuny, Oyugi, Kamotho, and Nassir, were shameless members of Moi’s brigade of know-nothing griots. Moi also created some tube politicians, some of whom hold key posts in Jubilee and CORD.

Following Moi’s departure from State House, President Kibaki sought to return to Kenyatta’s style of granting his Cabinet ministers operational autonomy. But after a while, Kibaki became insecure on account of a stiff challenge from the reformist elements within Narc. This put his administration in defensive mode and eventually, Kibaki allowed his administration to be hijacked by the so-called Mt Kenya Mafia, whose public face was a clique of insecure politicians that have since been cast into political oblivion. This is the same group of praise singers that nearly pushed the country off the cliff by bungling the president’s preparation for the 2007 election and then unashamedly trying to correct their mistake at the eleventh hour with turnouts exceeding 100 per cent.

The lesson from our political history is that things begin to fall apart when leaders entrusted with great authority find it necessary to surround themselves with sycophants. In our current political system, this applies as much to CORD as it does to Jubilee. If we are to achieve political stability and efficiency in government, we must develop a political culture that values independence of thought — especially among the political class. Kenyans must shun leaders who demand unthinking loyalty from their fellow politicians. It is unfathomable that a group of highly educated individuals would always have the same views on every imaginable issue. Whenever this happens, it is often a sign that someone somewhere is blocking the free flow of information. 

A former MP from Kiambu County once told me that the biggest problem with Kenyan politicians is that they are perpetually insecure. Many of them buy votes and, therefore, are never genuinely popular at the grassroots. Some are creations of ethno-regional political godfathers, and so are always on the lookout against competing sycophants. This, the MP added, results in a situation in which politicians seek not competence, but loyalty from their staff. It also reduces them to mere praise singers of their political godfathers. The same insecurity sips through to the political godfathers, who in turn are never sure whether their many political projects are genuinely loyal or only stick around in order to win the next election.

We keep talking about the need to free Wanjiku from the tyranny of our elected officials. I would argue that an equally important cause ought to be to let go of the culture of sycophancy in the political class. This, we can do by denying support to our many self-declared sycophants and their political godfathers. Our problems are legion, and require the greatest levels of experimentation and free thought we can get. This means that we are guaranteed to fail if our leaders continue to value blind and unthinking loyalty above all else. This culture of political sycophancy is the reason we have a moribund opposition. It is also the reason we have a government that so far, has failed to effectively deal with poaching, corruption, insecurity, joblessness, food insecurity, and the many other problems that plague our nation.