CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA
HESABIKA CURTAIN RAISER DINNER
Safari Park Hotel, Jambo Ball Room – Friday, February 26, 2016
Talking Notes by
Dr. Patrick Njoroge, Governor, Central Bank of Kenya
VALUE-BASED LEADERSHIP
As Prepared for Delivery
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening.
It is my great pleasure to be part of the 2016 ‘Hesabika’ Associates Conference. I
appreciate the privilege accorded to me by the conveners of this great event to share
a few brief remarks. I hope, wish and pray that the nuggets of wisdom, including
elements of my personal experience which I am about to share will inspire you
towards making a significant contribution towards our beloved country Kenya and
humanity at large for posterity.
My brief remarks will center on the topic ‘Value-Based Leadership’. “Leadership”
is the ability to inspire or influence others towards some common ideal or purpose.
“Values” represent a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of
what is important in life. “Value-based leadership” in simple terms therefore, is
leading by staying true not just to one’s values, but remaining accountable to the
framework of shared tenets and ideals. Leaders span a wide spectrum from spiritual
to secular. However, the underlying principles of leadership are the same.
Martin Luther King Jnr., the Biblical Daniel, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa,
among many others are illustrations and examples of excellent, selfless, value-based
leadership. The following key aspects, the ABC of value-based leadership, will help
me summarize this discussion and aid your quick grasp of value-based leadership.

1. Accountability: “Ili uhesabike, lazima uwajibike” (For you to count, you
must first be accountable). Accountability entails upholding integrity and
good stewardship of the resources under your care. Article 73 of the
Constitution of Kenya embeds accountability into our national laws and states
in part that “the authority accorded to State Officers is a public trust and
should therefore be exercised in a manner that demonstrates respect for the
people, brings honor to the nation and dignity to the people and promotes
public confidence in the integrity of the office.
The Constitution has 18 Chapters. Out of these, an entire chapter is dedicated
to the subject of Leadership and Integrity. In addition there is the Leadership
and Integrity Act and the Public Officer and Ethics Act. The question we may
ask ourselves is how come these laws have failed to create an effective
system of accountability to reduce pilferage and wastage of national
resources through corruption.
In my humble opinion, the laws are more than adequate. We have as a nation
to hold our leaders to account in keeping with these laws. In fact we should
hold ourselves accountable to an even higher standard, the spirit of the
Constitution rather than the letter of the law. To desire the best outcome for
our nation and in the process to desire to act and to act towards this best
interest. Indeed anyone who desires to ‘stand up and be counted
(“kuhesabika”), should endeavor to mirror these ideals.
Daniel was a public servant with ideals worth emulating. It is recorded that he
maintained integrity through his exceptional qualities. He never used devious
means of the enchanters or magicians to get his way or appease the king even
when the consequences were dire (He was threatened with death). In the end
when he interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the King honored him
and promoted him to rule over the province of Babylon. There may at times
be no monetary rewards for upholding accountability, but there is an eternal
legacy for being a good steward and upholding integrity.

2. Benevolence: Ladies and gentlemen, ‘to be ‘benevolent’ means to be
characterized by or given to doing good. Once again benevolence
encompasses principles in the Constitution of Kenya. Article 10 of the
Constitution contains the national values and principles of governance or
leadership. Included amongst these are applying and upholding human
dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, nondiscrimination, good governance, integrity, transparency and once again
accountability.
For our lives and our decisions to count, we should seek to address societal
challenges and problems that will make a difference for the good of society.
Martin Luther King is best known for his role in the advancement of civil
rights using non-violent civil disobedience based on his Christian values and
beliefs. When he was only 26 years old, he led the famous Montgomery Bus
Boycott, a protest against racial discrimination on the public transit system
which lasted an entire year, until the courts declared the racist laws
unconstitutional. He also spoke against poverty and against the Vietnam War.
Martin Luther King is renowned for his wise quotes many of which uphold
the trait of benevolence. One such quote is “Life’s most persistent and urgent
question is, what are you doing for others?” Benevolence will, as a life
objective, seek to uphold constitutional national values for the benefit of
society.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as a young person in Kenya, you can choose to go the
extra mile and make a difference by helping society while upholding the right
values. Mahatma Gandhi said “The best way to find yourself is to lose
yourself in the service of others’. Convinced of this truth, many of the
decisions I have recently made at the Central Bank have evidenced a concern
for the common man (mwananchi) and a desire to see them lead more
affordable lives.

3. Ladies and Gentlemen, the last value I will expound upon is Courage. Daniel
in the Bible demonstrated this well. When faced with the need to make a
decision between his godly values and the king’s unfair decree he had the
mettle to courageously stand for what was right. Many times today we are
faced with situations of moral conflict. What do we do? Do we demonstrate
courage?
Martin Luther King said the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who
remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. Our challenge today is not to
remain neutral in times of great moral conflict, but to stand up and be counted
amongst those who choose to uphold the right values.
In concluding my remarks I would exhort each one of us to echo the well-known
words of Martin Luther King and ‘have a dream...’ A dream that will make your
actions count, a dream that will make a difference for the good of society, a dream
that will demonstrate and leave a resounding legacy of courage, benevolence and
accountability, a dream that will embrace and practice ‘value-based leadership’ that
will transform Kenya, Africa and the world.
Thank you and God bless you.