Behind bars: Rating young leaders

By John Gerezani

Netizens usually don’t side with the under-dog in titanic battles as the recent US elections proved. And it’s not surprising that with his subsequent inauguration as the first black in White House, the feel good factor has reverberated right into neti where Obamania is en vogue. From old newspaper cuttings to grafitti on the cell walls, neti is Obamaland.

Let me begin by justifying my dabbling in politics today. Crime and politics are so intertwined that the thin line separating them is blurred. Think of rich nabobs hiring hooligans to terrorise opponents, deface campaign materials and bribe ballot-stuffing officials.

To ice the cake, netizens will tell you that the first executive order Barry signed in the Oval Office was not about the floundering economy or stem cell research. It was about netizens in G-Bay! That made him an instant hero here for there is a feeling that any leader who looks into the plight of people hitherto considered scum of the earth is a saint.

Netizens do lots of siasa, little wonder we boast of the largest alumni in the Tenth Parliament. Let me give you a glimpse of why netizens think that Kenyan youth have misplaced dreams in imagining that their youthfulness alone makes them a shoo-in for leadership.

Lessons from Obama

The current Parliament boasts of the largest conglomeration of youth in the country’s history but their performance in the first year is dismal. They spend most of their time in court corridors with cases that make some of us cringe in shame while others have suddenly pressed the "mute button" after scandals beset our gava — an indication that they could land in neti soon. That Kenyans are raging mad at the dearth of morally upright youthful leaders does not mean all is lost, but have they lived to the expected standards?

Compare President Barry’s CV. The brother came from a broken family where a womanising drunkard ditched the mum (read Dreams of My Father). Instead of turning to crime as your kids do, he buried himself in books all the way to Harvard.

Do the youthful leaders impart such gems to their teenage children? You know the answer. Upon graduation, Barry did not run into employment at blue chip companies though he was qualified. He chose to give back to his crime-infested hood, selflessly serving the under-privileged.

Did you see the millions of volunteers fired up by the message of hope, not forgetting the unprecedented networking across the divide? Maybe you didn’t but you know about the chap’s moral record. Just for the record, the brother is a regular churchgoer, avid sportsman and consumate team player who keeps a loyal and dedicated inner coterie of friends.

Compare that resume with our club hopping and largely responsibility shirking youth predisposed to quick fixes and whose main raison d’Ítre for seeking leadership is to make hay and damn the consequences!

Failing to inspire

Most of the young leaders hardly make their spouses the special fulcrum upon which their public image is built. Instead, we read their escapades in red light districts, others making schoolgirls pregnant while some run off with bimbos to the Middle East sand dunes. Young guys should know that Barack’s campaign money was donated by people he had never met.

To enter the White House, Team Barrack spent a whopping $600million or Sh48 billion.

That was not for bribing voters or election officials but for logistics and getting the message across. Can young leaders inspire Kenyans to move from the culture of handouts to that of financially and logistically supporting their candidates in a country accustomed to paying standing and listening allowances to political hirelings at rallies?

I am not dissing young leaders. If anything, they are already doing great in the corporate world. How come no one has questioned Barry’s wisdom of not having anyone below 47 (his own age) in the cabinet yet they form the bedrock of his support? To many netizens, the main heroes in Team Barrack were strategists David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs who plotted a seamless political heist only comparable to the great train robbery in effectiveness.

If you want the best strategists, visit neti because that’s where Mandela honed his skills. The next leader might just be a netizen. Watch this space.