•Jubilee Party had planned to use the smart cards during it party primaries but the idea was shelved
•But Cambridge Analytica separately wanted Sh5.5 million per month for communication support.
Image: /PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party could have paid British data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica in excess of Sh300 million during the 2017 polls.
A budget prepared by the controversial firm that was accused of manufacturing propaganda campaign against Opposition Chief Raila Odinga shows that they wanted a cool Sh 222,559,125.
But this was to deliver only three components of the Jubilee campaigns and more cash if Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto wanted more of their services.
The three were national surveys, party organisation, recruiting, training and operationalising party structure.
The amount also involved developing of supporter database and the production of the Jubilee smart cards.
Jubilee Party had planned to use the smart cards during it party primaries but the idea was shelved
But Cambridge Analytica separately wanted Sh5.5 million per month for communication support.
This means that if the firm worked from January 2017 to November 28 when Uhuru was sworn in for the final term, it could have raked in over Sh60 million.
“As a separate component of the capacity building workstream, SCL will provide the TNA/Jubilee with a team of experienced communication consultants who will augment the party’s communication capacity whilst also building its internal capacity,” a document prepared by the controversial firm titled, the path to 2017 reads.
Cambridge Analytica is a subsidiary of SLC.
In the strategy document to Jubilee bosses, Cambridge also said it could offer additional services including international press relations to address “criticism of the Kenyan government”.
Cambridge Analytica is credited with helping President Trump to win the American presidential election and with helping the Leave side to win in the Brexit referendum in the UK.
In Kenya, the firm ran apocalyptic campaign adverts against Raila on the internet with massive propaganda message.
Raila threatened to sue the firm.
Last year, it emerged that Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to harvest the data of up to 87 million people without their consent worldwide.
U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office fined facebook over Sh64 million for the scandal.
In new documents released by a former Cambridge Analytical employee, the firm described how it would deliver Uhuru’s victory in 2017
On surveys, it said their research programme will provide the ruling party with a roadmap on a host of issues.
These include party branding, candidate selection, locations for infrastructural development in order to build a “solid foundation for victory in 2017”
“SLC’s data scientists and political analysts will use the raw data from the survey and secondary sources to provide clear insights and actionable recommendations that will enable the TNA/Jubilee to communicate more effectively with the Kenyan population groups and win greater public support,” the document states in part.
It the strategy document to Jubilee, the firm recommended a thorough audit existing party capacity in order to design a structure capable of mounting what it termed as “an efficient, powerful national campaign”.
“Winning modern elections require political parties that are capable of mounting complex coordinated nationwide campaigns. This operational organisation must be extended from the highest levels of party leadership to volunteer coordinators in local branches ,”the firm recommended.
The last component was membership cards and database infrastructure which Cambridge Analytica said would be a Kenyan and continental first.
The defining characteristic of advanced political campaigns, Cambridge argued, is the use of data analysis and supporter tracking strategies.
These, it said, were valuable tools in executing communication campaigns and mobilising supporters.
Jubilee Party had planned to use the smart cards during it party primaries but the idea was shelved.
It was discovered that some aspirants had bought off all the cards from some regions in order to sway the nominations.
The smart cards were sold at Sh20 and enabled Jubilee to rake in millions as aspirants mobilised their supporters to acquire the card.