The biggest organization at our disposal is our country Kenya. At 47, Kenya is referred to as the ‘biggest economy’ in East Africa. In my opinion, that means the other neighboring countries, or organizations if you will, must be doing very poorly. Kenya lies among ‘Low Development’ countries under UNDP’s Human development Index and almost at the bottom under Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. How can any other country be possibly performing worse than this?
In the real sense, organizations that are the same age as Kenya are usually mature, well defined, reached the ‘super brand’ status and generally achieving goals and objectives just the way their founders envisioned. Safaricom is hardly over ten years old and see what it has been achieving, year after year. I remember their huge over Kshs. 200,000.00 hand sets not too long ago. East African Breweries (actually Kenya Breweries but decided to grow big) is much older but has not disappointed either, and so have Barclays Bank, and KCB among a plethora of other successful organizations.
What happened to the organization called Kenya, forty-seven years old and shareholders are yet to receive a dividend? To understand the Kenyan organization, one must do a diagnosis, just like you would to any organization. The systems theory offers one of the ways in which to base one’s diagnosis. Simply put, the systems theory is a method of formal analysis in which the object of study is viewed as comprising a series of distinct but interconnected components or subsystems.
What are these components or subsystems in the case of the Kenyan organization? One is the governance system. In normal organizations, we have a board of directors who provide governance oversight. In the Kenyan organization, we have the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. How has our ‘board of directors’ been performing? Have they given the necessary governance oversight for the Kenyan organization to take off? If yes, to what extent, and if no, why haven’t they?
The other subsystem I would diagnose is the Kenyan people, the so-called mwananchi. For six years I have been out of the country, and have defended Kenyans, telling everyone that Kenyans are the most hard working and pleasant people in the universe. Having come back, my perception seems to have shifted. I am not sure this has to do with the fact that I have seen more efficient systems, or hard working people than Kenyans, but one thing is for sure, Kenyans have changed in many ways.
I don’t understand why everyone has to be so aggressive when driving, why we all want short cuts, cut deals and get rich quick; why the receptionist is rude, why the guy at the super market is not pleasant, why the rich are so arrogant, why I have to chase every other guy I give a task to perform even when it is costing me money, and the worst of all why people have to keep asking me about my tribe. Recently in an interview in Tanzania, I was asked about my tribe, my first reaction was ‘not in Tanzania, and not in an interview’! Ndugu tafadhali naomba usiniulize hilo swali! And right there in my presence, the interview panel switched to discuss how tribal Kenyans are; I was even asked whether I had voted no or yes in the constitutional referendum.
Anyway, it seems to me that Kenya is not a land of hakuna matata anymore; there is matata everywhere I look. What is going on here? Are we sure we shall develop our country this way? Are we sure this will lead us to get our first dividend after 47 years of waiting?
This was to open a discussion about building a strong, healthy organization called Kenya so that we can get dividends from our investments. We must have good schools, hospitals, must have water running in our taps 24 hours a day, must drive on smooth roads, our mothers should have safe deliveries in hospitals, our babies must stop dying at infancy and no one should ever ask my daughter which tribe she comes from. She is a shareholder of this organization called Kenya, and she expects dividends. We all deserve much more. What are the other subsystems, and how are they affecting our organization? What can we do about it?