About a month ago, a friend we went to university with was on transit in Johannesburg.  We have not been in touch for almost 10 years, so I was surprised that he had my number.  I had followed his involvement in Kenyan politics and admired his courage and commitment to a better Kenya.
 
"Am now in government," he announced.  I reminded him that when were were in university, the political class called us 'the leaders of tomorrow'.  He laughed and said: "Now that I'm in leadership, what can we do to change our country?"  Not an easy question, I responded and promised to think about this and make time to discuss it when I was in Nairobi.
 
Last Saturday morning, I had breakfast with my friend; however, before he arrived, I had the opportunity to browse 'The East African Standard', which has a story on Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu, with the headline, Reinventing the African future.  There's an interesting link between the story and the discussion we later had with my friend.
 
Our breakfast went on until lunchtime.  Obviously, we discussed many, many issues; however, the most important was how each of us can play a role in making Kenya a better country.  We were frustrated that our generation had allowed the tag of 'leaders of tomorrow' paralyse them.  It's as if they are waiting for someone's greenlight to contribute to nation building.  We also acknowledge the many people in our generation who realised they were leaders political, professional and spiritual leaders in the unique positions they occupied.  As I shared the work that we have been involved in through Africa Harvest, we realised that reinventing the future required individuals, not countries.  As we appreciate the contribution that people like Africa Harvest CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu, had made to society, I better appreciated my personal contribution to the vision of an Africa free of poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
 
"Each of us must not focus on the job, and the salary that accompanies this.  Although important, we should live for a bigger dream, reinventing Kenya for our children and future generations," my friend said.  "When you have a big dream....bigger than your wife, two postcard childre or your tribe, you wake up each day with fire in your bones!"
 
As he spoke, I felt proud to be Kenyan, not just because of our excellent performance at the Olympics...with Kenyans like these in government, there's hope for this country.  We do not need everyone, we need YOU.