We are all guilty of seeing ourselves as smarter, better, more intelligent, cleverer, more decisive...than the guy we think is an idiot. We are twice as guilty when the foundation of our hubris are academic credentials that contain the words "first class", "distinction", "summa cum laude" and the like. But our heads swell to gargantuan proportions when we compare ourselves to the equally egoistic members of the political classes. It is human nature.
However the judgment of the masses, sometimes, where the instinct for self-promotion has been ruthlessly suppressed, is quite often informative. In the Kenya of the here and now, the masses are witness to the most witless Cabinet Secretary since the chef shuffled off to do local politics in his county. Our hapless maker of roadside declarations was touted by some of his most ardent boosters as a genius. He had a reckless tongue, for sure, but were relentlessly assured that once is hind parts sat on the seat of real power, he would reveal his true genius.
The truth, unsurprisingly, is that he has not covered himself in glory. He doesn't know anything about his ministry. He doesn't care to know anything about his ministry. What is worse is that he is incapable of the self-reflection necessary to know that he doesn't know anything. And so, in his customary brash manner, he has made a raft of policy pronouncements without caring whether or not he has the power, the intellect and technical skill needed to make the pronouncements.
He has opined on the status of various dockets out of his purview with the certainty of a religious zealot flying by the seat of his pants. It doesn't appear that he has consulted anyone. Not his technical staff (whom he says he has too many of that he doesn't need). Not his Cabinet colleagues. Not the government's chief legal advisor. Not even his former parliamentary colleagues. He is flying solo because, in his mind, he is the smartest man in the room because he told us he is the smartest man in the room.
His arrogance would have him believe that he is the first one to do what he is doing. He forgets that the last cabinet had a man with a similarly gargantuan ego who made a hash of his docket that it will take the better part of a decade to put right. Like our current tornado of shit, the previous guy would not listen to wise counsel. Would not consult technical experts. Would interfere in the mandates of others. And felt that it was his duty, at least once a week, to remind his colleagues and underlings that they were imbeciles. He is not facing the prospects of ten years of political inertia. Nether his previous colleagues nor the current powers-that-be are interested in giving him the time of day.
What distinguishes us from the people we loath, quite often, is our capacity for self-reflection and humility, the ability to admit when we are wrong, and the intellectual honesty to ask for help whenever we need it. We don't always do these things, but we do them often enough not to be reviled by our families, friends and co-workers. Our enfant terrible has spent a decade being told that he is the best of the best, being valorised for some of the most asinine political decisions he has ever made. Now that he has tasted real power, he is unlikely to have the humility to take a step back and ask, "Do I know what I'm supposed to do?"
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