Part XV: My first big mistake

In all my years in Lenana I had never seen the inside of the head of school’s office. Not even when I was a school prefect in fifth form. It was situated right next to the school pres' comm (tower) with big letters above the door; Head of school.

Once or twice the previous year I had seen Alai (HOS ’82) step into his office but he always quickly shut the door behind him. A few hours after my appointment was announced I took a good look at it for the first time and I have to say I was very disappointed. Maybe my expectations had been way too high. All that was in the clean sizeable room was a creaking old swivel chair (that probably dated back to 1949) and a small desk. Even my room/study back in Kirk house was much better furnished. I had been told that a few of my predecessors had furnished the head of school’s office at their own expense. I wasn’t going to do that, besides I had no such funds.

I sat down on the head of school’s humble chair to collect my thoughts. I had always imagined that when and if I ever sat on this chair the feeling that would rule would be that of triumph. But today I felt nothing of the sort. I was worried and almost feeling overwhelmed by the office already and the responsibilities I imagined came with it. The biggest worry on my mind was the Lugard incident (described earlier) that had happened in late 1982. Something told me that there would be repercussions from it.

Looking back now I should have grabbed that moment to do some serious thinking and planning ahead. George Mwangi head of Thomson and senior school prefect in 1982 had kept telling us that a school prefect in Lenana was as powerful as they decided they wanted to be. I had not grasped the full meaning of his words although I thought I did. What he meant was that you were as powerful as you allowed your intellect to make you. Leadership is not a joke and even if you are the leader (chairman) of a cattle dip in a remote village in the middle of nowhere it is not a joke. This is because you are dealing with people and people will always be people. Intellect is key in dealing with people and the treachery that is human nature everywhere.

And so rather than dwelling on my feelings and fears I should have started engaging my intellect pronto and right away. I didn’t and predictably I walked right into a trap and my first serious mistake which should have been avoidable.

Traditionally (at least in my days) it was the prerogative of the head of school to decide whether he needed a head of house or not. All heads of school since 1978 had exercised that option except Andy Mwenesi in 1980 and Mwangi Gitau in 1981 (both from Mumia house). I am sure that they had their own good reasons however my thinking was that with all the looming thunderstorms I could sense I needed somebody to focus on being head of house. Besides I was involved in quite a number of extremely time consuming activities apart from rugby and soccer, like the school play for instance. In fifth form I directed a play written by my close Kirk friend Alfred Odindo (who had left in 1980) and in sixth form I wrote and directed an original script; “Stop the train I want to get off.”

It was a no brainer that there was no way I was going to manage without a good head of house in Kirk. Besides there were numerous administrative things and small details a head of house had to take care of in those days and so if I took up both responsibilities there would even be less time left for my books which were supposed to take priority over everything else.

I love Mario Puzo’s "Godfather" the book and the movies because they teach a lot about life and leadership. In the movie version there is a scene where Don Corleone heading several powerful mafia families is being dangerously circled by his enemies and during a meeting with a particularly deadly one to discuss the Don’s help with the police and judges in the illegal drugs business his eldest son Sonny opens his mouth to air his personal views. The Don is furious and later in private screams at him; “never ever again let people know what you are thinking.” An extremely valuable tip for any leader. When people know what you are thinking before you have fully implemented your idea or put your plan in motion there are many ways they can trip you up and your plan as well. Also when you talk too much about what’s on your mind people can second guess you every time and bring about all kinds of chaos to your leadership.

Back to my situation. In my view I felt that it was only natural that the then deputy head of house Victor Wangai (RIP) be elevated to head of house. I discussed the issue with the appointing authority and he informed me that he would make a decision soon. But I then went and opened my big mouth and blubbered out my intentions to all and sundry. Word reached the Kirk house master Odhiambo Pekos. Until then we had had a very tight great relationship. You will remember from earlier chapters that we had worked closely together to bring the Starehe cup back to Lenana in '82 and besides he was my Geography teacher for whom I had great respect.

He called me one day after a meal in the block 2 dining hall and told me that I was making a big mistake. He explained that his candidate for head of house was much more qualified. I believe he used the word “qualified.”

Admittedly Victor Wangai had been a very close friend for years. He had even invited me to his garden estate home on several Sunday outings. But that was beside the point here and I don’t think my judgement was clouded in any way. He had already been appointed deputy head of house. Why muddy the waters by introducing another candidate above him which would even involve the embarrassment of him changing studies with the said candidate? Besides Victor was an extremely efficient guy who had done and continued to do a lot for the house and was in my view best qualified even if we ignored the fact that he was already deputy head of house.

I think the pressures of being HOS were beginning to weigh down on me because instead of just keeping quiet or pretending to agree with him I started loudly giving him the reasons why he was wrong. Now Pekos was an extremely emotional person and as I was to discover later he had had a run in with Victor and was determined to use this opportunity to put him down by getting somebody else appointed head of house of Kirk above him.

I believe there were several eyewitnesses who heard the ugly argument that went on inside the Block 2 dining hall and Pekos knew that. And so what would have been a small issue became very public with onlookers waiting to see whose appointee would make it. That would clearly answer the argument (as I heard somebody in Kirk put it) of who was more powerful; the head of school or the Kirk house master. It was a very unfair and silly argument because the two offices were very different with different responsibilities and expectations. It is like asking who is more powerful a county governor or a DC? But even worse the whole drama messed up my relationship with Peko's candidate because naturally he felt that I had something against him.

In any case the decision came a few days later and complicated my situation further giving me even more pressure when I least needed it.