BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA : What should be the age of our next president?

There has been a rife debate and most Kenyans are now yearning for a renewed form of leadership. Many voices are now concerned that the country’s leadership should be handed over to a new generation. That is agreed. However history has proved that age alone may not guarantee the other qualities required to ensure that a country or an institution in question achieves its goals. In reference to world political leadership history, its evident that a number of most prominent world leaders started their activities while youthful, a number of them developed good ideas while at any age. It is true that a number of great leaders like Chairman Mao Tse Tung, Vladimir Lenin, Malcolm X, and Dr.Martin Luther king Jnr, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Thomas Sankara and others became leaders at youthful ages. I believe their leadership abilities were based on their intellect and effort and not necessarily their age. These leaders remain icons in the world of history because of the great things they did for their people and their communities at tender ages. It is also a fact that there are some people who took reigns of power at tender age but became calamities to their countries; an example was president sergeant Samuel Doe who was later nicknamed as the Monster of Monrovia. After taking power in a military coup’et dat at the age of 27, Doe plunged his country into civil war that lasted for a decade. Liberia stayed for long without knowing peace until post Charles Taylor days. Another African tragedy is that of Mobutu Seseseko Wa Zabanga who became the absolute leader of the Congo Kinshasa at the age of 30 in a CIA sponsored coup. After conspiring with foreign power to have Patrice Lumumba assassinated, Mobutu ruled Congo with an iron fist. He misused the country’s resources for his own personal gain. He conspired with some of the world’s greatest superpowers to have impoverish Congo which he renamed Zaire. He ran the government like it was his own personal property. He did this for thirty two years because America supported him all through. In essence, Mobutu served the interests of the United States of America and he only lost power when he became irrelevant. Mobutu’s bloody reign led to pandemonium in that is characteristic of the now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to date. On the other hand in Cuba, the then youthful Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and ensured that he put policies that later helped Cuba to be self reliant. Those policies have made Cuba one of the most respected countries in the world. One of the most respected leadership legends in the world history Sir Winston Churchill British prime minister (1940-1945, 1951-1955) became prime minister at the age of 66 years during the Second World War in 1940. Churchill is celebrated to date for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945). He is revered because of his courage, decisiveness, political experience, and enormous vitality which enabled him to lead his country through the war, one of the most desperate struggles in British history.Churchil left the premier’s office at 81 years with honour. US president Ronald Reagan who is credited with turning the United States of America’s economy around became President in 1981 at the age of 70 years succeeding where his predecessor Jimmy Cater’s leadership had failed. It must be remembered that it was under Ronald Reagan’s tenure that cold war was negotiated to lead to the fall of the soviet union in 1991 three years after Reagan left white house at the age of 78 years in 1989.In America it is the Reagan administration that is credited to have worked towards ensuring the end of cold war. After the promulgation of our current constitution, there is general euphoria that the country needs youthful leadership. Most of the young people have come up and some have already declared interest in seeking elective opportunities in the forthcoming general election. This is a good move and it will help the nation towards realizing the targets and expectations of a renewed legacy and preparation for a ground to build a bright future for the country. Kenyans need a new leadership that will work towards ending corruption, impunity and develop our economy. The new leadership must be untainted, trustworthy and free from manipulation by foreign powers. We must pursue new leadership; not necessarily based on age but on progressive ideas and manifesto. The leadership must be Kenyan and not one imposed by foreign interests. Those are the parameters that we achieve real change in our governance systems. That arrangement is what will also open opportunities for young people who are progressive and with a track record to make Kenya a country of honour. We do agree that it is time for the youth, but whether it’s an absolute or only quality for leadership, its you to decide.