The Art Of Rewarding Mediocrity

Author Matshona Dhliwayo says, "Excellence in obscurity is better than mediocrity in the spotlight."

The sight of a drunk man eating githeri (boiled maize & beans mixture) from a plastic bag in public should ordinarily elicit feelings of pity at best or disgust at worst. During the 2017 general election a man eating githeri in the queues shot to national fame. This was after another man, (probably in jest) took his sorry picture and posted it to social media.
How a whole nation became fixated on a man eating githeri still beats me to this day. But it didn't end there. The image went on to catch the attention of the highest office in the land. And so ‘Githeri-man’ as he came to be known, was not only given land by the state, but was also awarded a HSC (Head of State Commendation) for well, eating githeri in public?

Now we have a government official, a chief to be exact, who was caught on video dancing  to some vulgar song in a Nairobi club. This would probably have passed as a non-issue had it remained a private affair. However, the video was uploaded to social media platforms and people laughed it off for a few days. Again, the matter should have rested but alas, it just kept gaining traction in the public eye. Traditional media even dispatched reporters to go interview the man.
Soon enough (and quite predictably I might add), some undiscerning companies saw an opportunity to cash in on the publicity and there was news of the man receiving vacation offers from the companies.
You know they say, "mediocrity thrives because it has the numbers."

Often it has its own poster child who is swiftly sold to the public by a coterie of cheerleaders. These consist of a narrow band of so-called 'content creators' with huge following on social media. I could say something about some of the so-called content but that's a story for another day.

Back to our second-generation githeri-man aka the dancing chief. The government of the day has now, in all its wisdom, deemed it a most urgent matter to 'gift' the dancing chief a new role. I don't know whether the new job entails a promotion but my question is, what message are we sending?

What happened to meritocracy; to hard and honest work, to a system that rewards maturity, decorum and good morals? No wonder, election after election we suffer, not from a deficient democracy, but from an enduring case of kakistocracy.

Fellow Kenyans, we have conditioned ourselves to award the base and the crass for far too long. We need to take a good look in the mirror and see what we are developing for our children and others who will come after them.

The bible does not say without reason that; 
Folly is appointed to great heights,
but the rich sit in lowly positions. Eccl. 10:6

Yes, we elevate folly and subdue those rich in innovations, talents, honesty, and wisdom. This needs to stop.
Of course there are those who rabidly guard the status quo because, and I say this with no fear of contradiction, their 'bread & butter' is gleaned from this ridiculous stupor. They claw and paw at anyone who dares stick his neck out. Jealousy, as someone put it, is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius.
The bible says my friends,
Do you see a man skilful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. Prov. 22.29

But alas dear friends, why are we are turning this age-old wisdom on its head?