When progress has more to do with direction than speed

Written by Richard Gitonga

Photo by: Liz Muthoni The Grand Regency Hotel. Looking at the controversy surrounding the sale of State assets, one wonders whether leaders involved are focused on the progress of this country. July 10, 2008: A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by a scientist called Dr Vint Serf on the evolution and future of the Internet. For those not familiar with the history and origins of the Internet, Dr Serf was actually one of the founders of the Internet. I was struck in awe at the futuristic thinking of this scientist on his vision of the application of the internet in the not too distant future. The theme of the presentation was on Inter galactic Connectivity where the concept of the internet would be leveraged to create a platform that would facilitate the connectivity of different planets and their orbiting satellites. This presentation was made at a time when the concept of broadband Internet connectivity in Kenya was just but a dream. The presentation had such a profound effect on the mostly Caucasian audience that Dr Serf received a standing ovation that lasted for about three minutes. As all this was going on we were still in the archaic age of trying our level best to regulate and restrict internet access for the sole purpose of keeping the Kenyan collective ignorance, uninformed and inward looking. It was not too long after the "inter galactic connectivity" experience that we were being exposed to NASA led planet Mars mapping missions where many spacecraft landings had been successfully accomplished. One of the key missions of these planet landings was the hunt for past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. All this was happening when a significant percentage of Kenyans did not have access to clean drinking water. Circumstances have not changed much for majority of Kenyans. As we are busy polluting our meagre environmental resources, other human beings do not only have reserves of these precious commodities, but are also searching for future resources on other planets. Traditional benchmarks We continuously watch and hear our business and political leaders saying that we are making progress. This progress is characteristically measured in terms of traditional benchmarks such as growth in percentage gross domestic product, fiscal revenue collection, stable money supply, and favourable balance of payments. Question is, what do we need to do now in order to catch up with those nations that are busy preoccupied with scouting for resources on other planets and engrossed in the possibility of connecting these planets with inter galactic communication highways? The context of this question may seem somewhat far-fetched to most, but a plausible possibility to some. All forward motion is not necessarily progress. Did your brakes ever go out when you were driving down a hill? It is not enough to make progress; we must make it in the right direction. In other words, progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction. Unfortunate saga Looking at the recent goings on in regard to the controversy surrounding the sale of state assets, one wonders whether leaders involved in this unfortunate saga are focused on the progress of this country, or on some other discourse. It is said that bees cannot make honey and sting at the same time. This metaphor can be used to describe the hopelessness we are in when, rather than focusing our efforts on putting the first Kenyan on the moon (or the North Pole for that matter), we have the leadership of the country and the greater Kenya collective focus on the  unprecedented sale of a hotel. It is disheartening to think that sometime in the future, we may look back on these as the "good old days". Men are said to be like tacks; they can only go as far as their heads will let them. When we look at what our leaders are focused on today, it is difficult to accept that they are in a position to lead us to the light, or to Kenya's "enlightenment" for that matter, when they seem to be standing in the dark. The principle of good leadership is governed by the ability of leaders to take a little more of their fair share of the blame, and a little less than their fair share of the credit. As we continue our journey into the future as a nation, we have to reflect deeply on the fact that we get the leaders we deserve.

 




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Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
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