Why Kenya needs leaders who think like nation builders, not event organisers

Locals in Sultan Hamud and Emali, Makueni County cheer up politicians during a political rally. [File, Standard]

A governor from one of the counties once suggested that matatu conductors should hold degrees in Geography and house managers should have qualifications in Home Economics. On paper, it may sound like a call for professionalism. In reality, it offers a glimpse into the delusion that defines much of Kenya’s leadership today.

Another county in 2015 made headlines for purchasing 10 wheelbarrows at Sh109,000 each, a scandal that did not just expose inflated procurement, but symbolised a pattern of misplaced priorities.

Across the country, there are moments where political leadership has delivered, and those should not be discounted. However, in recent days, we have seen social media clips displaying leadership that prizes academic credentials over common sense, and optics over outcomes. Meanwhile, the real work of building functional systems, creating jobs for the jobless youth, fixing transport systems and broken hospitals remains neglected.

Let’s talk about transport. Nairobi, a city of over 5 million people, still depends largely on matatus and boda bodas for daily movement. What stops us from imagining electric trams cutting across Eastlands, Westlands, Rongai, and Thika? Why can’t we begin a national conversation on underground metros in high-density cities like Nairobi and Mombasa? Egypt is living it! These are not utopian ideas, they are practical ideas our leaders refuse to entertain.

If we can spend billions on inflated government contracts and ghost projects, surely we can afford to commission feasibility studies, pilot tram routes, and invest in technology-driven solutions. The future isn’t waiting for Kenya to catch up.

There are glimmers of what good leadership can look like. Take Senator Crystal Asige, who has relentlessly championed disability rights, pushed for accessible transport systems, and demanded inclusive public spaces and now with the recent assent to the Persons with Disabilities Act 2025. She’s proof that policy can be both visionary and rooted in lived experience. Worth a national and even international focus.

And yet, our national discourse often spirals into shallow theatrics. Leaders propose degrees for domestic workers while the youth remain unemployed and our roads take lives daily. It is easier to demand a diploma than to fix a drainage system. It is safer to romanticise bureaucracy than to confront the rot in public service delivery.

The tragedy is not that Kenya lacks intelligent leaders. It’s that many of them are choosing to lead without imagination. They went abroad, earned degrees, attended conferences, and came back to govern like we are still stuck in the 1980s. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote, “Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can see.” Kenya needs leaders with the foresight to hit those unseen targets, innovative, inclusive, and sustainable solutions.

Leadership is not about titles. It’s about the courage to pursue meaningful change. Julius Nyerere understood this. He built, served and exited the stage with humility- A principle often quoted by our own Prof PLO Lumumba, who reminds us that great leaders know when to leave. Paul Kagame, for all the complexities around his leadership, has demonstrated what it means to build systems that function quietly and efficiently.

In the United Kingdom, one can become a licensed bus driver through proper vocational training, valued for a practical skill rather than held back by a lack of academic degree. It is about choosing to fix the road instead of holding another groundbreaking ceremony. It is about building systems that outlast you. The leaders we need must think like nation builders, not event organisers.

We don’t need more educated talkers. We need builders and visionaries who understand that clean streets, youth employment and electric trams are not luxuries but the bare minimum for a country trying to compete globally.

So when we hear proposals like ‘conductors need degrees’, let us not laugh. Let us ask: Is this the best our leaders can offer? Are we being led by people with plans, or just paper? Kenya’s problems are complex, yes. But the path forward starts by rejecting performative leadership and demanding grounded, transformative ideas.

We have wasted enough time, enough money, and enough potential. It is time to build, not just political theatrics, but a country.