Mr. Kenyatta, here's the kind of leadership Kenyans want

By Esther Ngumbi

Uhuru Kenyatta has officially been declared as the new Kenyan President after over 20 million Kenyans flocked to the polls, hoping that their new leader can solve many of the challenges the country is facing. These challenges include a lack of jobs for the countrys youth, corruption, a stagnant economy, climate change and recurrent drought and famines and a troubled agricultural sector.

The declaration of his victory was done despite claims by the opposition partys leader, Raila Odinga that the election results were massively rigged .

If Uhuru Kenyatta doesnt want to disappoint them as their newly reelected President, what kind of leadership should he provide in the next five years?

A leadership that puts ordinary citizens first

Kenyan voters want a leader who puts ordinary citizens needs at the center stage of their development plans, delivers on their promises and upholds the integrity of the office they serve. So far this has not occurred at the level that it should; nor has it across most of Africa. The Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership rewards African Presidents who have excelled in leading their countries with a lucrative prize. Since its inception in 2006, it has only been given to the presidents of five countries (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Cabo Verde) in a continent with over 50 countries. This lack of leadership in Africa continues to threaten the economic progress of the continent.

President Kenyatta should make it a priority to demand that all elected leaders be servants of the people that have elected them. Servant leaders focus on the growth and well-being of the people they serve. The rise to power should not be used as a means to pocket and plunder Kenyans resources but a channel to listen to peoples needs and use the available resources to serve them. Furthermore, all elected officials should be mandated to attend a short leadership course where the fundamental values and ethics of leadership are taught. If these courses are not available, the government can partner with accredited institutions such as Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government who already have such courses. These would go a long way to ensure that newly elected leaders are prepared to lead with integrity.

A leadership that creates jobs and opportunities for its citizens, especially the youth

Kenyas unemployment rate remains high. Over 40 percent of its population is unemployed. Many of the jobless citizens are young people. Furthermore, these young people are graduates who are creative, tech savvy, entrepreneurial and energetic. The failure of the government to create opportunities for this highly qualified workforce is saddening.

In 2017, Kenya ranked 99th out of 140 economies in the Global Talent Competitiveness index -an index that provides a glimpse into the key factors that determine economic growth and a countrys level of current and future prosperity. Corruption and lack of jobs were some of the factors that were associated with cutting down Kenyas competitiveness.

And because 51 percent of the more than 19 million Kenyans who voted were youth , creation of opportunities to absorb this youthful unemployed population would go a long way and should be a priority. One of the election promises is to create 6.5 new million jobs . Kenyans should make sure that the elected President delivers on this promise.

A leadership that is not corrupt

Kenya, just like many other countries in Africa , is wealthy. A recent research report showed that African countries are net creditors to the world. However, a lot of its wealth is mismanaged or mishandled because of corruption. While President Uhuru Kenyattas government continuously stressed that it was fighting corruption, many more corruption scandals continued to happen. How long can this go on? With Kenya being a wealthy country, it is a disgrace to see many Kenyans live in abject poverty.

A tough stance is needed on corruption. More so, public and government officials that commit corrupt crimes including stealing and misusing the resources of the nation should be prosecuted and imprisoned.

A leadership that harnesses the good will of its foreign allies and fosters more cooperation in an effort to grow its economy

Kenya has continued to enjoy a good relationship with many foreign countries including The European Union countries, G20 countries and the United Sates. Just recently, Germany Chancellor Merkel invited President Kenyan to attend a G20 Summit meeting in Germany. At the same time, Germany is making Africa a focus of its presidency of G20 and has rolled out a Marshall Plan part of a broader German focus on Africa that focuses on more private investment, bottom-up economic development, and above all more jobs and employment creation for Africans.

The new leadership should continue to foster this mutual and beneficial cooperation and use renewed friendships to create opportunities for its citizens and grow the Kenyan economy.

China also has increasingly become a leading partner in Kenyas economic development. Through their cooperation and aid, the SGR Railways that connects two of Kenyas busiest cities (Nairobi and Mombasa) has been built and they have improved the roads around Nairobi.

One approach to help Kenyans further benefit from such efforts is to mandate that Chinese companies in Kenya give 40 percent of the jobs to Kenyans and train Kenyan employees in an effort to build capacity that is needed to sustainably keep the projects going long after the Chinese companies leave the country.

A leadership that prioritizes agriculture

Over 75 percent of Kenyans depend on agriculture as a source of livelihood. Many farmers continue to face challenges including climate change, lack of water to farm, and lack of value adding processing plants to increase the value of the agricultural products.

The new leadership should come up with a well thought-out national agricultural development white paper that clearly outlines how the country will tackle the challenges its citizens face.

The tasks for the new government are clear and Kenyans should make their leaders accountable by demanding for detailed yearly progress reports that document every progress made. Kenyattas government must deliver what they promise.

Esther Ngumbi is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University in Alabama. She serves as a 2015 Clinton Global University (CGI U) Mentor for Agriculture and is a 2015 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute.