President Salva Kiir of South Sudan (R) with then vice-president Riek Machar during a rally in 2010. PHOTO | FILE
NATION MEDIA GROUP
I have taught myself to be very patient but I see no reciprocity in our people.
I
firmed up this thinking after it took me three hours to drive a
three-kilometre distance between Karen Shopping Centre and Junction Mall
by Dagoretti Corner on Saturday evening.
If we had all behaved, it should have taken motorists less than 30 minutes to cover the distance.
Motorbikes
rode on the right side of the drivers, while others rode on the wrong
side of the road. Push-carts crisscrossed the road as though they had
priority.
Some drivers were in such a hurry that
they created a parallel lane on the left side of the more patient ones.
As though they owned the road, they created their own rules, flashing
their headlights onto oncoming vehicles.
We all sat
in our vehicles pensively and in consternation, as we watched these many
Kenyans who lacked a sense of responsibility and decorum.
What
irked me most is the fact that there was no remorse of having done any
wrong. When they wanted to rejoin the correct lane, they directed their
finger there, and as you broke to allow them back, in they were never
grateful.
God knows how we have lived with these Neanderthals for so long.
James Gichuru Road was clogged with nothing moving.
I
decided to drive down Ngong Road, and right by the former Kenya Science
Teachers College, now a University of Nairobi campus, I ran into a
rowdy mob of youths flagging me down. They were too many to take any
risk to stop.
Instinct told me to drive on fast. I
was not lucky; the youths were armed with huge stones. A barrage of
rocks landed on my vehicle. They completely shattered the right side of
my car. By sheer luck, I and my wife escaped unhurt.
We drove on more shattered glass. Evidently I was not alone on this ordeal. Other vehicles before mine had endured the same.
This
was random violence by the youths. It could have been their parent or
relative they were stoning. They were irresponsible and seemed not
accountable to anybody.
Further ahead by Impala Club,
we were once more stuck as panic motorists tried to figure out their
safety. In the melee of frustrated motorists, we dialled 112 and within
some 20 minutes, armed policemen arrived.
Without
windows to my car, I greet a couple driving on the opposite side and ask
what is happening down the road. “Just grid-lock”, the man told me. He
then goes on to ask me “What happened to your car?” “Youths up the road
throwing stones”, I responded. My wife turns to me and asks, “How does
one govern people who do not respect the rule of law?”
“This
is precisely the argument we just had at the Hemingways Hotel in Karen a
few hours ago”, I responded. In this social gathering, some prominent
lawyers, CEOs and some African Diplomats differed on the future
leadership of Africa.
Whilst some felt that Africa
needed benevolent dictators, others thought that giving democracy a
chance would in the long run yield better outcomes for Africa.
Further, even if we chose benevolence, there is no known methodology of consistently getting such dictators.
Indeed,
much of Asia would not be where it is at the moment without benevolent
dictatorships. It was argued that whereas Singapore, Malaysia, Korea,
and yes, China succeeded with benevolent dictators, Africa mostly got
non-benevolent dictators in Uganda, Central Republic of Africa, Somalia
and many more countries.
It would be too risky to attempt that route once more.
Most
of the discussants were complimentary of the Rwandan model and
questioned if the cut-and-paste model of western democracy really works.
Someone argued that there was no point of
complaining about leadership in any “democratic” African state when the
needs of the electorate are nothing but physiological (food, shelter and
clothing).
It is absurd to think that we can elect
any leader based on issues when our thinking is vertical starting from
the family, clan, tribe and country in that order. The problem is even
compounded when the educated advisors work on the basis of their selfish
ends.
An example was given of former Nigerian
President, the late Murtala Mohamed. When he made the citizen’s
interests as a priority, he was assassinated for not taking care of the
interests of those close to him.
What the discussants
did not address while I was there is the fact that a majority of the
countries that have successfully inculcated discipline among their
people have instituted military service for most of the youth.
Singapore and Korea have a one year compulsory military service after high school.
In many western countries, majority of the youth go through disciplined services before embarking on their careers.
Some
few years ago, Kenya introduced the National Youth Service that saw
many high school graduates go through a disciplined programme. We may
not have conducted some impact analysis on the programme, but studies
from other countries show that you grow people who respect the rule of
law through such discipline.
Irresponsible behaviour is
costly and would certainly crop into the future lives of these youths.
It may not be surprising to see people wanting to take up jobs in which
they would never take any responsibility for their actions.
There
must be a sense of responsibility in all of actions we take. Someone
must be called to account for decisions that impact on our lives.
Dealing with irresponsibility requires tolerance, serenity and awareness of the person's general manners.
An
irresponsible person is basically an ignorant person. We must fight
ignorance with the same robustness we had when we fought colonialism in
Africa.
My car windows were shattered but my heart was
not. I am full of hope that one day the people of Africa, and
especially the youth, will see sense in being responsible citizens.
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