BBI – Leadership and the challenge of choosing between what is right, versus what is popular

By Ngunjiri Wambugu via fb

When I listen to Mt Kenya leaders – political or otherwise – I hear everyone saying that BBI is the right thing for the region, but it is (currently) unpopular. (Senator Kangata in his ill-advised letter actually gave it a 20% – popularity rating, despite not much work having been done to sell it yet).
So if BBI is unpopular in the region but right; what are popularly elected leaders doing to rectify this – in their own respective ways? Or are they just complaining on social media hoping to raise their profiles and get even more ‘popular’?????

Others – like Kangata – want the President to stop doing national issues and come to Mt Kenya and popularize BBI. You see – he has nothing to lose as he is not running for office in 2022. So he can risk his popularity. They can’t. And anyway. It’s his ‘project’.

And let’s be honest here. The issue with BBI in Mt Kenya is about who’s willing to do the work on something unpopular. A good number of politicians from our region will not touch something that they think is unpopular, even if it’s right. It’s too much work turning it around. They are also scared that associating with something unpopular will affect their chances of being re-elected in 2022. ????????‍♂️
But isn’t leadership doing the right thing now, not because it’s popular but because it’s right? When did leadership become doing the popular thing, because it’s the easy thing?

Actually real genuine leadership is seen when doing the right thing is not the popular thing, but the leader rolls up their sleeves and does the hardwork, risking their popularity, to make that right thing, popular.
Incidentally – all elected politicians were once unpopular aspirants – who then worked hard to change themselves into popular elected officials, because they believed they were right.
So it’s not that they don’t know how to do it. It is just that they don’t want to do it.
——————————————————
Meanwhile there are some unelected people in political office who were overhead saying that BBI is popular – but it’s facing challenges because it’s being sold by ‘unpopular’ people.
I am not even sure how someone who has never been elected by popular vote but is benefiting from a political office can now figure out when others who were elected by a popular vote are unpopular; outside an election. But that’s neither here no there.

What am wondering is why these ‘popular’ people are not using their political offices to sell BBI? Or do they want the ‘unpopular leaders’ – assuming there’s any such thing – to first stop selling BBI, so that they as the ‘popular’ ones, can start?
Nîe maûndu maya ma! ????????‍♂️
#Kieleweke