The power trade off in Kenyan August election

Naisula Lepariyo
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

There is a saying in the Nordic Countries that says; “when it is cold, it’s nice and warm to pee in your pants (momentarily) but in a few minutes it gets cold and sticky”.

As Kenya prepares for the August election in just 11 days, it has become clear that this is one is not like any other election. Hon Raila, the opposition leader stated that it’s the most expensive campaign per capita in the world today. In terms of rallies, campaign materials, mobilization but most importantly rewarding the voters.

In the last few weeks I have organized several political rallies where I had a unique position to work with the politicians as well as the Voters or electorates as the politician refer to them.

The politician

There is certainly a clear line between a voter and the politician. At this moment the politicians are at the mercy of the voters and are doing all humanly possibilities not to offend the voter. They are spending more time on the ground, listening, talking, drinking and going to churches in attempt to woe every vote in their way.

The Voter

On the other hand the voter is aware of the power he/she possess at this moment. Infact some of them see this as ‘eating time’ that only last for a moment therefore they try to maximize the opportunity. This makes it almost impossible to gather accurate data on favorability as the answers often changes with the person in question. Several voter told me they would vote for candidate A because he/she gave them USD 5 while the other gave them USD 2. But let’s not underestimate the burden to give thousands of people each USD 2.At the individual voter level it is peanuts, barely sufficient to buy food for the day but to the political candidate it is a dent in the financial basket .Some politicians have been forced to borrow or even allow controversial individuals to support their campaign, campaign does not come free for sure.

The Power Trade off

If the voter accepts the money, and if the money becomes the determinant of the decision on the 8/8 this directly means that the voter has handed over the power to the money. The voter therefore loses the ability to hold the politician accountable once they are in office, and the five years of recovery from the voter begins. Therefore, cycle of corruption and lack of accountability is more likely to continue.

So basically, the USD 5 might be nice and warm in the next 11 days of campaign but if it gets power to decide the ballot, then WE as voter might have to live with the cold, wet and sticky pants for the next five years!

BE SMART KENYAN VOTER! DO NOT MAKE THAT TRADE OFF

Naisula Lepariyo

Written by

A writer from Northern Kenya who is enthusiastic about gender equity, equality, education and the future of pastoralist communities.

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