Is a wave of helplessness stalking our beautiful nation?

Psychologists, whose star is rising courtesy of problems facing our small planet, often talk of learned helplessness.

It is a state where you fail to act on something because, with time, you have learnt your action makes no difference.

You fail to act even when opportunities present themselves.

The popular example is tethering a dog and beating it. At first, it will make lots of noise, cry loudly.

Soon, the dog learns it will still be beaten irrespective of how much it cries. It learns to be helpless.

In Kenya, we seem to have become helpless on national issues, we are casual even on grave issues such as the coronavirus and locusts. We can add corruption and joblessness to the list.

Do you notice how we have no time for public participation enshrined in our Constitution?

We love helplessness, “let nature take its course” in a country where science is taught.

Why would locusts end up being a menace when it is known they thrive after prolonged rains?

It is not the first time we are facing locusts; we even have names like Nzige or Ngigi, echoes of past ages when locusts once ravaged the land. Why was action not taken in the early stages?

Now, we are left sharing video clips of the insects’ relentless march and invoking religion to explain their presence. Even changing the Agriculture minister did not seem to have stopped their march.

On coronavirus, we are hoping it does not land in Kenya and that we are immune. Yet the world is on high alert, from east to west. Like locusts, jokes on the virus keep the country alight.

Show direction

On the economic front, we are reluctant to make the environment more friendly for job creators who feel helpless against politicians and other external forces. The Opposition became so helpless, it joined the Government.

We could cascade this observation to lower levels of the society where parents feel helpless against their children. In social and workplaces, helplessness stalks the nation.

We love being observers, sharing out what we think should be done (like this write-up?) How did we get there? In every society, citizens look upon leaders to show direction, both in normal times and when there is a crisis.

By resolving the crisis, the public gains confidence in their leaders and obey them. Political disputes like contested elections erode this confidence. We are not making it any better by giving political losers big posts in the Government. Citizens learn that their long voting queues do not matter. Many are already saying they will not vote next time.

The lower levels of the Government, the men and women who make things happen, are now under people they rejected at the ballot box. Could they be voting with their feet?

Add the fact that meritocracy is not always the route to public jobs, even at the county level, and the helplessness starts to show. When citizens get jobs on merit, they feel motivated and eager to make a difference to society. If they are ‘given’ jobs they have no obligation to work.

Are you surprised that public services started deteriorating when meritocracy went through the window? If I got a job or tender through connections - a diplomatic term for corruption - and not meritocracy, why should I be serious with it? 

National problems

Once a habit becomes a way of life, undoing becomes a task.

Do we have a solution? One solution being touted by our leaders is the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). But, we have lately noted, its forums are becoming goldmines of historical and current grudges.

BBI must be tolerant of diverse views, the more the views the higher the chances of getting a good solution to our national problems, including helplessness.

Some whisper BBI is a sign we are helpless against the so called dynasties.

Two, BBI’s main focus is at the top, the Executive and its expansion. Any management expert or sage can easily confirm more cooks spoil the broth. BBI should look at lower levels of the Government too where the action is.

One missing element has always been linking performance to incentives. That works wonders everywhere. I shudder that we are even thinking of a third layer of government. This will entrench helplessness more.

The second solution is transforming our thinking, to make us believe that our actions matter. That is best done through schooling. Will CBC do that?

What happens in schools is supplemented by our homes. How do we bring up our children? Do we make them doers or victims of circumstances? Even religion can be a factor. All religions put a premium on hard work and honesty, so did our traditional societies. Noted the popularity of prosperity gospel? We can’t ignore the external environment.

Noted how Media portrays Africa as helpless, better pitied? Have we internalised this helplessness? Why can’t the efforts put in political matters like voting, BBI or law change be replicated on economic issues like joblessness, tribalism, locusts, coronavirus and helplessness?

-The writer is an associate professor at the University of Nairobi  

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