Kenya will have its General Election on August 9.
But campaigns started as early as last year.
Campaigns in Kenya are usually followed by graffiti on the walls.
To identify a candidate, one just reads the graffiti and automatically identifies the names of candidates who will vie in that area.
Unfortunately, the graffiti has defaced walls in very many buildings.
The graffiti has also turned the mundane walls of the buildings lively during this poll times, registering the candidates’ names, symbols and parties in the minds of the public.
Once synonymous with the vibrant atmosphere of the election season, the graffiti no longer enjoys the glory of its past, with candidates depending a lot more on new age avenues like phone marketing, private agencies and social media to drum support for themselves.
Graffiti is a form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving unauthorised marking of public space by an individual or group.
Although the common image of graffiti is a stylistic symbol or phrase spray-painted on a wall by a member of a street gang, some graffiti is not gang-related.
IEBC should ask politicians and parties to remove graffiti on walls and begin work on clearing such paintings on buildings immediately after a person loses an election.
Election officials should propose a law that prohibits wall writing, pasting of posters, and other permanent/semi-permanent defacement which is not easily removable.
The same shall not be resorted to, under any circumstance, even on the pretext of having obtained the consent of the owner of the property.
ln major towns like Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Eldoret many walls have been defaced and the owner of the buildings will bear the cost of cleaning the walls.
If the law is enacted, one part should read that whoever's name appears on the wall, should bear the cost of cleaning the building.
Either the politicians sent people to spray paint the building or his agent do it on his behalf. This will prevent further defacing of walls.
At the moment walls around towns like Nairobi and Mombasa have different ugly graffiti of different colours on their walls and some sealing or hiding important names of buildings, information and road signs.
The county government should also enact a law that graffiti on private walls should not be permissible.
Graffiti can cause damage to decorative or delicate surfaces.
Affected areas may also start to feel run down and appear threatening, putting off customers and prospects.
Some graffiti can be very offensive, threatening to groups or individuals, or racially abusive.
The emergence of technology can now let supporters and politicians use social media to campaign.
This will culminate to clean walls in Kenya.
Director career organisation
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
