NAIROBI: There are better ways of airing one’s grievances, no matter how much or how long you have been aggrieved. Engaging riot police in street battles is not one of them. Issuing threats and intimidating public officers is also not clever. Provoking the police into confrontations is not prudent, especially as an elected leader. Indeed, it comes off as an insult to the title honourable and the office one is holding. When voters elect someone, it is because they have seen in him or her, an able representative, someone articulate enough to talk on their behalf about matters affecting them. They do not envisage a heckler or a stone-thrower, since order and civility are the buzz words today.
Indeed, charlatans and popularity hungry individuals have never made good leaders. They morph quickly into dictators and violators of the less fortunate members of the society. This is as power gets into their heads and then gradually become insecure in their leadership. They soon forget their core mandate of inspiring their electorate into social and economic development. They, therefore, engage in small-time fights with anyone seen to offer differing suggestions.