An ass once found a lion’s skin that the hunters had left out in the sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud ass that day.
In his delight, he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then everyone knew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound beating for the fright he had caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: “Ah, I knew you by your voice.”
They say that fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool. But sometimes, it is these silly words that attract some to support others.
In every election, there is always that one presidential candidate who does not conform to the usual and excites the population. In 2013, Mohammed Abduba Dida brought interest into the presidential debate, and Kenyans used his statements throughout the campaign.
Dida ended up exciting a good number of voters and came in fifth in the election, beating veteran politicians such as Martha Karua and Paul Muite.
The 52,848 votes that Dida got would have made a big difference for either Uhuru Kenyatta or Raila Odinga. As we all remember Uhuru passed the 50 per cent plus one vote mark by less than 8,000 votes.
In the France 2002 election, previously unknown far-right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen finished the first round election as the runner-up over Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and went to a runoff with incumbent President Jacques Chirac.
In this election, there is no doubt that the candidature of George Wajackoyah has excited the population, especially the youth and some women. He has made some radical proposals that excite some of the voters and could see him get a substantial number of votes.
His proposals on marijuana are attracting radical young people who see him as a liberator, especially giving the drug a legal economic value. His use of Rastafarianism as a key anchor to his presidential bid is also making his candidature attract young people who identify with reggae.
His proposals on how to deal with corruption are also attracting some people. Corruption has been a huge problem for Kenya and the proposal of the death penalty for culprits, regardless of how absurd it is, attracts Kenyans to Wajackoyah.
The thing about Wajackoyah’s candidature is one that obviously cannot win the election but it creates a nuisance value, especially for William Ruto and his hustler narrative. Wajackoyah’s radical proposals are attractive to the hustlers and some women.
There is a bloc of voters who feel uninspired by the current options, and are yearning for a fresh start for our nation. These voters had gravitated towards Ruto but are now among those who can easily support Wajackoyah.
Wajackoyah’s popularity is growing; every vote he will get is a vote he will take away predominantly from Ruto. He may not pull an upset but even garnering 300,000 in the election will deny Ruto a clear first-round win, especially if the vote comes down to the wire.
The thing about this election is that it will rely a lot on turnout, especially by the youth. Ruto needs a higher turnout than Raila for this bloc of voters and Wajackoyah eating into that portion will definitely cause an upset.
Ruto’s supporters will therefore have to work extra hard to have their fellow voters come out to vote to avoid a situation where there is a run-off that would be too unpredictable. In case Wajackoyah forces a run-off, Ruto cannot be sure that the same voters would come back to his side.
However, voters can also decide that Wajackoyah is just a candidate trying to make his name and is not a serious contender and should therefore not get any votes. A run-off is not economically sound for the country and should therefore be the last thing in our minds as voters.
Kenyan voters should look at who best meets their aspirations and not who has the most radical proposals that cannot work in a constitutional democracy like ours.
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