How our political mentality hurts ability to fix challenges facing us

When Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja and his Deputy Michiri Njoroge toured the City to access the garbage menace. [Samson Wire. Standard]

I learned recently that, it has been scientifically proven that colonial mentality has affected generations, most of whom never had direct contact with the colonisers.

It has affected our way of life in unshakable ways that are unfathomable. For example, our perception of success, beauty (physical features), advancement, or style, and superior culture, language, and even the food we eat is predicated on the British colonial mentality.

We see a person wearing a three-piece suit as the epitome of success and one can't imagine going for an interview in an African outfit even if it is 35 degrees Celsius!

Yet, we consider dressing in our Kenyan outfits as casual dress down! Although Kiswahili is our national language, those who have a mastery of English are seen to be better educated and sophisticated.

Meanwhile, a person with a mastery of only Kiswahili, their mother tongue, and other local languages is a source of jokes and memes!

Ugali, Sukuma, muthokoi, matumbo, mukimuo, deep-fried fish, kachumbari, and other local delicacies are rarely on the menu of starred ("big") restaurants because we are embarrassed by our local foods and culture, except when we are dancing in political campaigns or for foreign tourists.

Being slender, light-skinned (fair and even-toned), and having a narrow nose and Caucasian physical features are the definition of beauty.

Our children who can play violin, guitar, cello, and piano are seen to be more successful in music than those that play kayamba, adeudeu, nyatiti, horns and African drums.

Some of the colonial mentality is wearing away, very slowly, but some cannot be simply shaken off yet some of the colonisers' "traditions" we rely on are no longer practised by the colonisers themselves.

Our political mentality is much like the colonial mentality. We allow our political leaders to divide us along the lines of those who support them and those who do not.

In Kenya, we suffer a political mentality of defining people as either being a supporter of Kenya Kwanza or Azimio-One Kenya. Ordinary Kenyans are seen to be incapable of independent thought and direction.

If I insist that politics is over and mass demonstrations will only hurt all of us and instead ask that all our leaders should instead focus on achieving Vision 2030 and sustainable development goals, all of which will expire in just seven years, people say I am a Kenya Kwanza government supporter.

When I question some decisions of the Kenya Kwanza government made without public participation or complain of the broken promises of reducing fuel prices, cost of living and continued borrowing/more debts, people say I am an Azimio supporter.

Yet, the same leaders say we are all Kenyans, free, and deserving of equal opportunities and security. How can we believe them when we are made to feel like we are walking on eggshells or to tiptoe to avoid victimisation or being branded a "traitor?"

This political mentality is insidious and it is destroying the fabric of our society and turning all of us into sycophants and liars, and either side of the political divide is suffering for it and to our detriment.

Our political mentality is extremely unhealthy. This fertile ground for inflated egos, chest thumbing, and a "let's see who will blink first" mentality will run out of Kenya, our development partners, businesses, investors, tourists, and guests who are vital to our economic recovery.

Leaders must stop behaving like managers, focusing on investigating their personal problems and reporting on them to us, and instead, they need to focus on fixing our national problems and doing the right things.

We must learn to win in humility, be inclusive and allow others to lose in dignity, live to fight another day, and ultimately, all join hands for the global good of all Kenyans.

We must also know when to stop, accept defeat, wait to fight another day, and allow winners to govern. Nothing lasts forever, no matter how long it appears to take. It is only by solving other people's problems that politicians will become successful leaders.