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Insubordination

by Wangari Kebuchi on April 23, 2008 in Blog, Kenya Crisis

For some reason, today I have been thinking about what insubordination, or the perception of insubordination can lead to in the context of African politics. I talked to a friend of mine about this today and as we spoke I remembered what had transpired with Robert Ouko, one of Kenya’s rising leaders. As the story goes, he was killed because president had perceived signs of insubordination from him.

Here is an article about Ouko’s murder from one of Kenya’s leading dailies, The East African Standard:

http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=20308

I think of these things in the context of my desire to return home and be a changemaker in my country; and how best not to get killed while at it. How to successfully initate change and keep everyone’s eyes on the ‘work’ as Professor Heifetz would say.

I think of how not to get assassinated.

Also on my mind today was the answer to how quickly loyalties change in the context of politics. Your best friend and partner in your party can the next day be your self-sworn enemy and work towards your denunciation with fury and, …urm ‘exuberance’? (inside joke). Kibaki and Raila were best friends, then sworn enemies, and now are best friends again. If it didnt make sense to me then, it makes perfect sense to me today. And if this understanding has given me another tool in the navigation of shark-infested waters that eventually lead to a successful nation, then HKS has done me a great service by allowing me to be a member of its community.

So even though some of the smartest in Kenya were not able to avoid actual assasination (Pinto ‘65, Mboya ‘69, Kariuki ‘75, Ouko ‘90), their stars and their aspirations for Kenya still burn brightly in the eyes of the youth, and if the future leaders of Kenya can just learn how to keep their work (and selves) alive, we may yet have a chance.

Hope is infectious. And I am its number one victim.

Well maybe number two (Barack beat me to first place)

(but like Boston Marathon, Kenyans are accustomed to taking top positions) 

 

Written by Wangari Kebuchi · Filed Under Blog, Kenya Crisis 

Wangari Kebuchi is second year Master of Public Administration in International Development student at the Harvard Kennedy School. She grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and looks forward to moving back to Kenya after her graduation.

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