President Uhuru Kenyatta, now is the time to take charge

President Uhuru Kenyatta's candid admission that we have fallen short of the expectations of the heroes who freed Kenya from the yoke of colonialism was sobering.

That we have eschewed the values that make us one people, one nation and instead embraced those that undermine our nationhood, our humanity and thereby compromised our forward march is an understatement. John P. Kotter, a Harvard professor renowned for his teachings on leadership and change, says the first step to transforming any organisation is to establish a sense of urgency.

Urgency has never been a necessity like now for Kenya. So much has gone badly adrift in the country: the economy is out of kilter. In fact, the World Bank has projected a slower growth rate for the year than earlier anticipated; insecurity, though under control of late hugely undermined the critical forex earner, the tourism sector, leading to a deep slump; agricultural exports have been on a steady decline while a series of industrial disputes has made a bad situation worse; our politics remains venal and corrupt; our democracy is imperfect with the majority riding roughshod over the minority courtesy of the infamous 'tyranny of numbers'. In short, there is a considerable distress everywhere.

His utter indignation was a promising first step, but the risk of a return to business as usual remains real, as history has proven so often. It has been nearly three years since he became President and we would hope he has thought long and hard on the challenges facing the country. While some of the challenges could be because of reasons beyond his control, it is fair to say that it is for those same reasons that he was elected the country's Chief Executive. He therefore, as President, must grasp the nettle and take charge of things.

Evidently, leadership, a key ingredient in progress, is missing in the country. What we witness day-in-day-out is a charade. Leaders who would rather engage in a razzmatazz of tax-funded opulence than craft solutions to the myriad of challenges Kenyans wake up to every morning.

In truth, Kenyans have settled for below-average for far too long. Public service is mediocre at best and unavailable at worst. Frustrated taxpayers have stopped seeking public service. Indeed, the best providers of education, medical, communication, security services, name it... is not Government, but the private sector. That is sad.

Our bureaucracy is slow-moving, corrupt and expensive. It was heartening when he suspended members of his Cabinet fingered by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission early in the year. He needs to do more because by any means, the vice is not in remission. In fact, all indications are his administration has not got a good grip of the reality of the canker of corruption that costs the country nearly a quarter of a million jobs every year.

Corruption discourages investment by making the cost of doing business prohibitively expensive. It enriches a few by giving them an undue advantage over many who are deserving. With a relatively large educated and skilled manpower, Kenya has punched below its weight mostly because of corruption and a culture that rewards ineptitude and laissez faire where anything goes.

On corruption, Mr Kenyatta's government must reduce the opportunities for it. Secondly, he must ensure that the perpetrators are smoked out and severely punished. That alone will send the message that he is serious about fighting the vice that hobbles progress.

The cure to a fragile economy and a disunited country is not mere words. Those words must be matched with concrete action. Mr Kenyatta needs to make it a priority to win the confidence of all Kenyans to reconstruct the country. Charity begins at home. A first step to ensuring a united country is to rein in those in his ruling coalition keen to plant to seeds of discord in the country.