A Model of Servant Leadership

David Munene was a classmate of mine at Starehe Boys' Centre where we had our high school education. My classmates nicknamed him Philosopher because of the philosophical remarks he sometimes uttered.

In 2003 when we were in Form 2, he was appointed a sub-prefect. Owing to the aura of confidence that he exuded, he rose through the leadership ranks to become a red lion, as the three head honchos of the Starehe prefectorial force were called.

When Munene was announced a red lion during one school assembly in 2005, the whole hall burst into a seething cauldron of cheers. That showed how good he was, for as the book of Proverbs points out, there is always great rejoicing when a righteous man ascends to power. I would also have chimed in the cheering by brushing my fingers across the piano had I not been jeered when I attempted it earlier in the assembly.

In November 2005 when our high school years were drawing to a close, Munene and I were among the students interviewed for a job by a certain Mr. Njoroge. He was offered the job and I wasn't. But he declined it and instead chose to report back to Starehe to continue serving as a red lion while pursuing a diploma in information technology in the institute division of the school.

As for me, I madly craved to have the job because I didn't want to return to Starehe. But since Mr. Njoroge refused to employ me even after following up on my interview results, I had no choice but to report back to Starehe in January 2006 to pursue a diploma in information technology just like Munene.

That failure to get the job turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I would have missed the great days of learning and adventure I had at Starehe Institute. And I later learnt that Mr. Njoroge's job was low-paying and deadly dull since it involved doing such menial tasks as cleaning his office. Munene was wise to decline the job offer.

While we were preparing to commence our diploma course, I advised Munene to emulate Gilbert Kimani: the 2003 Starehe Boys' school captain who struck me as friendly and easy-going. Both Munene and Gilbert bore resemblance in that they were of the same physical size at the time they served as school captains of Starehe.

What I came to appreciate most about Munene in his time as a red lion was the way he held me in high esteem. During one school baraza in 2006, he referred to me as a genius for having set up a website for our high school class, in that era when such social media sites as Facebook and WhatsApp that we take for granted hadn't yet been created.

And he wrote for me a glowing peer recommendation when I was applying for undergraduate admission at Dartmouth College in the United States. He mentioned in the recommendation how I had volunteered during the 2006 August holiday to teach piano at a remote Catholic parish here in Kenya.

Unfortunately, and I say unfortunately for a reason I will explain later, Munene dropped out of Starehe Institute in November 2006 and chose to fly to an elite school in Australia called the Armidale School to do a gap year internship. He therefore turned out to be the only Starehe Boys' school captain who never completed his one-year term during my time in the school. He was also the only student in the Starehe Institute Class of '07 who never completed the diploma in information technology.

Had Munene finished his one-year term as Starehe Boys' school captain, he would have been offered an opportunity to study a post high school diploma at Deerfield Academy, one of the best college preparatory schools in the United States, from where I am sure he would have been accepted at such highly esteemed universities as Yale, Harvard and Stanford. As to why he chose to drop out of Starehe Institute - thus sacrificing an opportunity to study at Deerfield Academy - is something I have been dying to understand.

Later on in 2010, I inquired from him during a chat we had on Facebook why he sacrificed an opportunity to study in the United States. He never disclosed to me the reason; he just told me it is true he lost something by not flying to Deerfield Academy, but he also gained something by flying to the Armidale School. That sounded wise. No wonder he was nicknamed "Philosopher".

Of late, I have been thinking that Munene dropped out of Starehe Institute probably because he didn't want to get caught up, like a mosquito in a spider's web, in the negative politics that were brewing up in the school following the demise in 2005 of Dr. Geoffrey Griffin: Starehe's founding director. What else would you expect from such a wise man as Munene?

I have always had a feeling that had Munene completed his term as Starehe Boys' school captain, he would have organized for me an opportunity that opened up in 2007 for one Starehian to pursue a post high school diploma at a college preparatory academy in Cleveland, Ohio. That's why I have said it was unfortunate that he dropped out of Starehe Institute in November 2006.

By the way, after his gap year days at the Armidale School in Australia, Munene flew to Great Britain to pursue a degree in business information systems at the University of East London. He graduated in 2011 with first class honours. And he now resides in Great Britain but he sometimes comes back to Kenya for a visit like he did recently to familiarize his English wife with his roots.

I hope, just like I think Dr. Griffin is hoping as he now reposes in heaven, that Munene will one day permanently resettle in Kenya to advance the course of his Motherland through entrepreneurship, if not political leadership. So help him God.