Why can't all governors be like Alf Mutua?

Why can't all governors be like Alf Mutua?

It is summer in the diaspora and ‘winter’ in Kenya and all the summer bunnies are rolling down South to catch up with the relatives. Ngugi wa Thiongo is in town, so, weep not, child. And next month Uncle Barack, the smartest guy in the room and biggest gorilla in the global jungle, will also visit us, his Kenyan relatives.

Which is why a week after Madaraka Day, I want to ‘recognize’ one of our own home-grown national leaders.

A month ago, a survey came out showing that Dr. Alf Mutua is Kenya’s number one Governor. No big deal? If your child comes end term with a report card saying they are top of the class, you don’t just stay mum.

Some dads, and mums, do though. There are Kenyans, and odd organisations, out there who think praising merit is ‘kusifu mgema’ but are very quick to criticize fault. ‘Men Only’ is not one of those.

In a country devoid of good, let alone great leadership, it is good to sing praises of the best among us, raise the standard. I saw that picture of Governor Mutua sipping a Fanta Passion outside a Masaku kiosk with the President the other day, and thought: ‘That’s it. He was voted best governor because he does everything with a passion, and a plan.’ When Dr Mutua was a travel journalist writing ‘Msafiri’, he brought his journeys to life in a way I haven’t seen since.

And like him or not, when he was Government Spokesman in the Kibaki era, he defended the State to the hilt.

Now as Governor of Machakos, he has transformed the place, visually and viscerally, with lights, a people’s recreational park, ambulances for the sick, bore hole and water projects and mostly in bringing a feel-good factor. Kenyan haters may say it is all spin and PR, but I’ve been to Masaku, the Before and After versions, and it is like a drab woman from shags who was taken to the salon, then boutique, attended an etiquette and language school, and now Miss Eve is the prettiest young thang in town.

A lesson I have seen in life is that those who can, do ... but there is always a minority in the shadow, plotting your downfall. Governor Mutua has seen off stiff undermining from a Senator, sidelined his own deputy and ignored a party leader in order to deliver for the folks of Masaku who swang him his mandate - and they love him for it. At least the vast majority. As the Addidas ad says, ‘there will be haters!’ And naysayers. The best revenge upon such green-eyed folk is success.

The good governor does not do like Chief Whip Duale and just duel like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills in Mandera and saying that they owe nobody, anything. And this is the tragedy of our country, 52 years after our self-autonomy. Too many leaders - male and female, because gender does not create generosity - only care about their own self anatomy.

Governor Mutua delivers, and makes serving the people look like fun. If Dubai showed him how Masaku can be ‘raised’ out of the desert with just a little money and passion, then the man should be put in charge of Konza City and allowed to roll to the Far East often, so that someday, we see our own Shanghai.

There are too many paper tiger leaders these days, roaming our landscape, roaring their tigeritude and showing their ingratitude to we common citizens by filling yellow bellies with the fat of the land, or our taxes, or chewing our adipose tissue layers - remember our skinny lesson last week? If Kenya is ever to be an African tiger, then surely, we need more Dr Alf Mutuas.

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