Citizens in a country with failed leadership face many problems. Referring to Professor Kimani Karanja in Fathers of Nations, write an essay in support of this statement. (20 marks)

Professor Kimani Karanja experiences numerous challenges caused by failed leadership. These include economic hardship, the loss of his daughter, family breakdown, demotion, imprisonment and emotional suffering.

Professor Kimani loses his beloved daughter as a result of the state's inability to provide safe public infrastructure and efficient emergency services. Because of his poor salary, Kimani cannot afford to repair his car. Tuni asks her father if she can use his car.He winced. The question might as well have been dirt that an enemy had shot into his face to mock him. He fumbled for an excuse but told the truth instead; that the car is down again and he will have it fixed as soon as he gets his next salary. Tuni is therefore forced to travel in a Public Service Vehicle, which is later involved in a fatal road accident. The minibus they are travelling in is hit by a trailer. While some passengers manage to scramble out of the vehicle, Tuni remains trapped in her seat. A man tries to save her but all the doors are jammed, so he uses his mobile phone to call 999. The emergency response service (999) is non-existent. Onlookers attempt to help. They hitch a van with a trailer, but the chain keeps breaking and the trailer keeps falling down on the minibus further. A man described as the Giant arrives with an axe to hack the minibus open. His hacking further weakens the minibus, which collapses and squeezes out Tuni's final breath. The accident exposes the government's failure to provide effective disaster response services. When Tuni loses her life both Kimani and Asiya are inconsolable.Her burial ended all doubt and hope about her,closure came. Grief and progress towards recovery followed. Six months later they were well enough again.Though Asiya blames Kimani for failing to provide a better means of transport for his daughter leading to her death , the real failure lies with the government. 

Professor Kimani loses Asiya to MP Walomu because the state creates economic inequality and promotes materialism. Their marriage experiences serious strain as Asiya becomes dissatisfied with their financial situation. She admires Walomu's wealth and compares it with Kimani's poverty. She wants Kimani to leave the university and go to greener pastures somewhere. It hurts Kimani so much when she goes ahead to compare him with his former junior colleague, Newborn Walomu, who is now an MP with four cars. Six months after the death of Tuni, Asiya seems to loathe her husband. One evening, she informs Kimani that she is leaving him. She reveals that MP Walomu has proposed marriage to her. Asiya openly blames Kimani for Tuni's death, arguing that if he had owned a proper car, their daughter would still be alive. Kimani is shocked and devastated. He cannot believe that the woman he loves and one he has been married to for over thirty years has decided to leave him for another man because of money. He desperately pleads with Asiya to reconsider her decision, reminding her that sixty is not the right age for couples to separate and that the timing is inappropriate since they have just lost their daughter.He wonders what happened to couples aging together gracefully. Despite his pleas, Asiya remains adamant and walks away. She leaves leaves Kimani because she is materialistic and attracted by Walomu's wealth. Kimani's marriage collapses, leaving him heartbroken, lonely and bitter.

Professor Kimani is impoverished because of the state's unfair economic policies. He is unable to provide adequately for his family despite being a highly educated university professor. This is because the government pays professors poorly while politicians award themselves enormous salaries and allowances. After the coup, Members of Parliament, who had previously earned less than university professors, awarded themselves salaries almost one hundred times higher than those of lecturers and even exempted themselves from taxation.These coups are lethal because they are legal.Kimani becomes frustrated by how Members of Parliament pass laws that only serve their selfish interests. They break laws and then make new laws to defend their actions. They raise their wages as they please. This clearly portrays the MPs as selfish and corrupt leaders. As a result of these poor economic policies, Kimani's financial situation worsens. He is unable to repair his old dying Toyota car. Once Asiya had seen a young man going places. Now she only saw an old man going nowhere just like his car and .He takes his daughter to a low-end restaurant and all he buys is ice cream which makes him grimace because it is too cold. He puts it aside since he was not enjoying it. He is unable to enjoy the privileges that should come with his position as a distinguished academic because his salary cannot sustain a decent standard of living. This creates tension and instability in his marriage.

Professor Kimani becomes a victim of injustice because the law favours MP Walomu. He suffers injustice after confronting Walomu for stealing his wife. Asiya admires Walomu's wealth and eventually compares him favourably to Kimani. Kimani storms into Walomu's office and accuses him of destroying his marriage. From the heated confrontation, we learn that Walomu has three wives, each with a child, and Asiya will become Walomu's fourth wife. The two men engage in a physical fight after Walomu justifies stealing Kimani's wife and even mocks and toys with him. Unable to tolerate the mockery,Kimani swings a fist at Walomu but missed. He swung another and missed again. He swung yet another; this time he lost his balance and fell. Walomu gets the opportunity to beat Kimani. The police arrive and both men are arrested but Walomu walks away scot-free even when he is the one who should be jailed. Kimani is unfairly accused of assaulting a Member of Parliament. He is jailed for six months while Walomu escapes punishment. This demonstrates how the justice system protects powerful leaders while ordinary citizens suffer injustice. When he is set free after six months, he walks to his house dejectedly. He could see his career doomed beyond revival.

Professor Kimani is unfairly demoted by the university because of the abuse of power by those in authority. Following his imprisonment, the university demotes him from the rank of professor to his former position as a senior lecturer instead of giving him a fair hearing. This is said to be "due punishment for disgracing the university in the eyes of the public." The demotion humiliates and deeply hurts him. He feels that the university leadership has ignored his years of dedicated service and chosen to protect its public image instead of seeking the truth. Feeling betrayed by the university leadership and the government, Kimani becomes dejected. He eventually decides to leave the university, abandoning the academic career he had intended to pursue for the rest of his life.

In conclusion, Professor Kimani's suffering results largely from failed leadership. Leaders should embrace good governance so that citizens can live in peace, justice and prosperity.