- Hillary Muhalya argues that student leadership should teach service, accountability and responsible use of authority.
- He says Merishaw School’s council elections expose learners to democratic processes, teamwork and ethical leadership.
- The experience offers Kenya a practical lesson on preparing young people for future leadership responsibilities.
Kenya does not lack people who want power. What it urgently needs is a generation that understands what to do with power once it is entrusted to them.
That lesson cannot begin when young people enter politics, public service, business or senior institutional positions. It must begin much earlier—in classrooms, playing fields, student councils and school communities where leadership is first experienced.
This is why what happened at Merishaw School deserves attention beyond the colour and ceremony of a students’ leadership transition.
The school has turned student leadership into something more meaningful than the distribution of badges and titles. Its 2026–2027 Students’ Council process offers a practical lesson in how young people can be introduced to the difficult relationship between leadership, trust, responsibility and service.
At Merishaw, candidates developed manifestos, presented their ideas, campaigned and sought the confidence of fellow students. A school Electoral Body comprising teachers and students oversaw the elections, while an appeals period provided an opportunity for complaints to be raised and addressed before the successful candidates were cleared to assume office.
That is precisely where leadership education should begin.
A leader’s legitimacy is built before the leader takes office.
The ballot does not merely identify who is popular. Properly managed, it teaches learners that leadership is entrusted by others and therefore carries an obligation to those who have placed their confidence in them.
On September 4, the process culminated in the swearing-in of Merishaw’s President, Vice President and Prime Minister.
There was pomp and colour. The new leaders made a grand entrance in a G-Wagon and were received by delegates before proceeding to the ceremony.
But the most important part of the occasion was not the spectacle.
It was the responsibility that followed.
The leaders took their oaths of office, signed declarations and received the instruments governing their responsibilities, including the Students’ Code of Conduct, School Rules and Regulations, Students’ Council Constitution and Students’ Council Code of Conduct.
Leadership must mean responsibility
That sequence carries a profound lesson for Kenya.
Before giving a young person authority over others, teach that person the rules governing authority.
Before demanding discipline, demonstrate discipline.
Before speaking for others, learn to listen.
Before enjoying the privileges of office, understand its obligations.
This is the difference between producing office bearers and producing leaders.
Too often, student leadership is understood narrowly as an extension of school discipline. A prefect is expected to enforce rules, report misconduct and help maintain order.
Those responsibilities matter.
But they are not enough.
A student council should be a leadership laboratory—a safe environment where young people practise the skills that democratic societies and responsible institutions require.
They should learn how to disagree without becoming enemies.
They should learn how to receive criticism without retaliation.
They should learn how to resolve disputes without humiliation.
They should understand that rules apply to leaders as much as they apply to followers.
They should learn that winning an election does not give them a licence to dominate those who voted differently.
And they should discover that accountability is not punishment; it is part of legitimate leadership.
Merishaw’s use of the Shepherd’s Staff adds another powerful dimension to this lesson.
Rooted in the school’s Maasai cultural foundation, the staff symbolises guidance, protection and responsibility.
The metaphor is particularly appropriate.
A shepherd does not merely walk ahead of the flock.
A shepherd watches over it.
That should be the standard for student leadership—and ultimately for leadership everywhere.
The question facing a student President should not be, “How powerful am I?”
It should be, “How well am I caring for the people who have entrusted me with responsibility?”
That shift from power to stewardship is one of the most important lessons Kenya can give its young people.
Schools are training grounds for future leaders
The country’s future leaders are already in schools.
Today’s student President could become tomorrow’s teacher, principal, lawyer, doctor, entrepreneur, civil servant, administrator, community leader or politician.
The habits formed in school can follow them into adulthood.
If a learner associates leadership with intimidation, privilege and unquestioned authority, society may eventually pay the price.
If the learner associates leadership with integrity, listening, fairness and service, the country gains something far more valuable.
This is why schools should become deliberate training grounds for ethical leadership.
Student councils should expose learners to practical decision-making. They should be encouraged to consult their peers, identify problems, propose solutions and explain their decisions.
They should learn how to handle complaints.
They should practise negotiation.
They should experience the consequences of poor decisions.
They should be taught how to manage limited resources responsibly.
They should understand inclusion and the protection of vulnerable learners.
Above all, they should learn that authority without accountability is dangerous.
Merishaw’s electoral process also carries an important democratic lesson.
The presence of an appeals mechanism means that even after votes have been counted, the process is not treated as beyond scrutiny.
That is a valuable principle.
In a healthy institution, questioning a decision is not automatically an act of rebellion.
Complaints can strengthen legitimacy when they are handled fairly.
Young people need to learn this before they encounter the much more complicated disputes of adult public life.
There is another lesson in what happens after the election.
The newly elected leaders were brought together for fellowship and a special dinner, providing an opportunity for them to begin their term as a team.
That matters.
After competition must come collaboration.
An election should determine who carries responsibility, not create permanent enemies.
The winning team has a duty to serve even those who supported its opponents.
That is a lesson Kenya’s wider leadership culture desperately needs.
The real test begins after the ceremony
Student leadership should therefore not be judged by the size of the campaign crowds, the sophistication of manifestos, the number of votes won or the grandeur of the swearing-in ceremony.
Its real examination begins after the applause.
Do the leaders listen?
Are they fair?
Can they accept criticism?
Do they respect the same rules they expect others to obey?
Can they protect weaker students?
Can they work with people who disagree with them?
Can they admit mistakes?
Can they put the interests of the institution above their personal popularity?
And when their term ends, do they leave behind a stronger school than the one they inherited?
Those are the questions that determine whether a school has actually produced leaders.
Merishaw therefore offers Kenya something more valuable than a ceremonial model.
It offers a reminder that leadership education is citizenship education.
The badge will eventually come off.
The sash will eventually be folded away.
The Shepherd’s Staff will eventually return to its place.
But the character formed during that period can remain for decades.
Kenya’s leadership problems will not be solved merely by changing the people occupying today’s offices.
The deeper solution is to change how tomorrow’s leaders understand authority.
And that work starts in schools.
Before Kenya gives young people power, it must teach them how to carry it.
Because the ultimate purpose of educating a leader is not to teach a child how to stand above others.
It is to teach them how to stand up for others.
By Hillary Muhalya
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