Around my home city Kisumu, there are several billboards prominently announcing the candidacy of Senior Counsel Prof Tom Ojienda for the Senate seat.
Predictably in this neighbourhood, they also loudly support the presidential run of ODM chief Raila Odinga and his Azimio La Umoja Movement.
On the ground, you can feel the excitement this run has caused because Prof Ojienda is not your everyday aspirant. In words and actions, he is a true maverick, seeking to shake up the old order.
Last week, I touched on the insecurity of elected leaders, or incumbents, in the face of mounting challenge from new aspirants. After five years of incumbency, elected leaders tend to develop a Messiah Complex, believing in their own perception of infallibility and exaggerated sense of generosity.
This makes them see opposition as a sign of thanklessness from both the people and their challengers. The sense of entitlement extends to political party networks and parliamentary fraternity. It is one of the reasons rank outsiders trying to crack the code of these networks get paranoid, especially where sitting legislators or party insiders routinely employ refrains that suggest the ticket has its owners.
In the case of the Kisumu Senate race, the incumbent has run off to seek the gubernatorial seat, making it purely a contest of new entrants. The county is bang in ODM heartland, so the party’s ticket is hot cake.
Getting one’s hands on it solves a huge part of your problems. Like hens shielding their young ones from the dangers that lurk above, there are those who feel they have been with the party for a long time, and no “outsider” should waltz in and shake the “eating equilibrium”.
Truth be said, the electorate is evolving, and the methods of the past may not appeal to the modern voter. It is why certain aspirants for political office across the country are causing jitters among their more established colleagues.
Prof Ojienda, for instance, is a very down to earth man, whose connection with the grassroots has been effortless and real. In the very short time he has been in the race, he has made a name as a man of his word, a listener and a leader who speaks the language of the people.
It helps to be a person of huge resources in today’s electoral engagements. If the return of multiparty democracy in 1992 ushered in the era of politics of principle and leaders elected purely on their ability to liberate the country, subsequent elections have moved more towards bread and butter matters.
The generation that sought to liberate the nation did its part, and we now enjoy the freedoms they fought for. The modern voter, frustrated by fake promises from elected leaders and burdened by poverty, looks more to leaders whose “hands” they can “taste”, a sort of transaction my people call “cash gi receipt”. As soon as one declares interest for any electoral position in the new era of Kenyan politics, the harambee cards, funeral funding requests, wedding invitations and development needs pile up by the minute.
The people move for your pocket, even before the microphone you are making the declaration on leaves your hands! Politicians have made us believe it is a strain on their resources and salaries, but given how many more people still seek office, they must have a form of anesthetic to overcome it, or the benefits clearly override the pain. The net effect is the emergence of the aspirants who work for the people long before they are elected. This is what Senior Counsel Ojienda has been doing on the ground.
In a mere four months, he has been to every corner of the county conducting fundraisers for churches, community projects and grassroots organisations. The jewel on the crown is an ECD Centre he has helped set up at Miwani Phase 3, as well mobilisation of support for a health centre in Kisumu East.
And as if to unlock the doors of the party, he has funded the renovation of an ODM office in the middle of Kisumu town, where politics is chewed all day like additive tobacco. I have heard locals refer to him as “De La Rue” in reference to his perceived deep pockets, and ability to solve grassroots problems without a second thought.
He doesn’t say much, which I guess is a common quality in this variety of politician. He is articulate about what he intends to do, and the route map for getting there. He strikes me as very honest and quite grounded in his aspirations.
In his engagements with the people, he doesn’t make lofty promises common among regular politicians; neither does he talk down at the masses like a latter day prophet giving divine decrees. Instead, he listens to the ideas from the people and marries them to his own. He would make a brilliant Senator, if you ask me.
When the year turns tonight and we enter the magical number 2022, the stampede for the ballot and the party tickets will be massive. The number of the year alone is enough to induce pressure attacks on those whose seats are under threat. The next four months will be exciting, because between now and party primaries, there will be enough tears to fill a river.
I am more fascinated by the new entrants who will be seeking to unseat incumbents, or to send political dinosaurs home. If this election is to be a huge milestone at the presidential level, I hope the broom goes all the way down, and sweeps clean.
As for my home county, at least in the Senate race, I have not heard of any other serious contender trying to replace Senator Fred Outa, who will be running for governor. Obviously, they will emerge from the woodwork, as the race gets closer to the start. But I am persuaded that the emergence of solid personalities such as Prof Ojienda bodes well for the next generation of legislators.
Both political parties and the electorate must surely know we can only improve the quality and responsiveness of the legislature to the needs of the people, by improving the quality of the leaders we send there. Fate has conspired to throw one of the best our way, it’s our turn to reply in kind.
But if you wanted a front row seat to the intrigues around strong aspirants going for broke in political parties, and against established incumbents, this is your time to get a good dose of popcorn, for the whistle is about to go. The New Year will be a very exciting. Don’t blink.
