KAIKAI’S KICKER: Drama - But where are the adults?

On my kicker tonight, I am thinking of adulthood in the context of the heady events that happened in Kenya today. Today, the country came to a near standstill because of a play; a school stage play. And that should really have been understandable if it were not for the fact that the standoff also involved some children averaging the age of 15. And I thought of adulthood because I was surprised by the number of grown-ups that turned up ostensibly to save our young minds from Butere from utter destruction by irresponsible others. But in the mix of the adult noises that dominated the atmosphere today, one sounded refreshingly reflective, and fortunately, conscious of the bigger picture.

In his address at the Annual General Meeting of the Association of National Government Administrators of Kenya, Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo lamented what he termed a culture of disorder and challenged the administrators to look inward and reflect. He told the administrators that: “The communities we serve, look up to us for guidance, stability and inspiration.”

The question is: Do communities still look up to the administrators? Do they still guide? Do they still inspire? And are they really agents of stability? All these are critical points for reflection among Kenyan adults both inside and outside government.

Days like today, and small things like a school play have tested our adulthood. Each element that goes with adulthood – age, maturity and responsibility – were tested and found wanting not just by a 44-minute play, but by that short two-minute presentation that included the singing of the national anthem by some 15-year-olds.

And as we encourage PS Omollo to lead administrators into that very necessary reflection, he must begin with the increasingly erratic and wobbly National Police Service. It has been pitiful watching some of the actions of our policemen. In the Nakuru drama over a play, the police stood out for their own drama of mindless use of force that included the targeting of journalists. And the reflections should trace backwards to the increasingly erratic decision-making that ends up painting administrators as unguided and uninspiring.

Away from the administrators and back to my theme of the night: adulthood. For the many adults, especially politicians, that came out to lecture some 15-year-old girls, have you ever heard of something called the power of example?

Well, monkey see, monkey do.