Money is always present in Kenyan elections. The presidential candidates promise to eradicate corruption, which takes up to a third of the state budget. At the same time, the voters are demanding a lot of money from the regional election candidate.
MATANGI, KENYA Wanjiku Thigan, 31, the goal is not easy. Only one representative is elected to the regional parliament from Theta county with 31,000 inhabitants. According to many, she cannot be young, female, unmarried or from a poor family.
Wanjiku Thiga is all of these.
– I keep hearing that I cannot bear political responsibility because of my age and gender. My family is poor and I have no rich supporters. In many people’s opinion, that already shows that I am not fit to take care of common matters, he says.
One poster election campaign
We drive to Wanjiku Thiga in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, the last day of campaigning for the Kenyan elections. The distance from the center of Nairobi is only a good twenty kilometers, but the navigator directs us to a dead end, to the wrong side of Athijoke.
Wanjiku advises on the phone the correct route: along the bumpy streets back to the main road, after the river to the right.
– When you see a big poster with my picture on the wall of the house, you are almost there.
A handsome election poster along the home street symbolizes the campaign of Wanjiku, who is running for the regional parliament as a very uncommitted candidate. It’s his only big poster.
Wanjiku Thiga’s election project was cut short by lack of money in its early stages. He had printed election hoodies because he believed he would be the candidate of the Chama Cha Kazi party in Theta district. But just before the appointment, the party required him to pay a threshold fee of 300,000 Kenyan shillings, or about 2,400 euros.
– I couldn’t afford it. Then when I saw on social media that a less popular older man had been chosen as a candidate, I left the party and decided to start my own campaign.
Voters want “their own thief”
In Kenyan elections, money and corruption are present at all levels. Even the highest politicians admit that corruption permeates the whole society. Estimates of public funds lost due to corruption vary, but it is estimated to be around one third of the country’s budget.
All Kenyans are familiar with the term Mwizi wetu, our thief. People assume that elected political representatives embezzle public funds, for the benefit of their own family, clan or tribe.
– If a politician is brought to court due to a corruption scandal, his supporters take to the streets to defend “their own son”, says Wanjiku Thiga.
– Kenyans say they want good leaders, but that is not true. They want money, their share of the money stolen by the politician.
The people at the top of politics in Kenya are quite rich. The main candidates for the presidential election are Raila Odinga77, and William Ruto, 56. Odinga comes from a powerful political family and is wealthy by birth. Ruto, on the other hand, emphasizes that he comes from a poor background – but he too has been involved in politics for a long time and has amassed a considerable fortune on the side.
At the mercy of drunk voters
An individual candidate aspiring to be a representative in the regional parliament faces the same on a small scale.
Wanjiku Thiga has spent about 5,000 euros in shillings for the elections. Each of them is either my own or collected from friends. A large part has gone directly to the voters.
– When I go to talk to people, they assume that I won’t leave without giving them something small. Some settle for a campaign cap or t-shirt, most expect money.
We leave with Wanjiku Thiga’s team for the last day’s election work. The campaign walk in the Ngoma Tupu block starts calmly, but soon Wanjiku finds himself surrounded by a group of drunken men.
He ends up with the men behind a closed door in a small bar. There he gives a short campaign speech, and the patrons of the bar celebrate his candidacy.
But Wanjiku can’t get out until he has left money for the next round of drinks.
“My health has been put to the test”
In Finnish eyes, the meeting with drunk voters was unsafe and full of sexual harassment. Wanjiku Thiga assures that the meeting was still useful.
– Sometimes this gets too intense, I get pushed and pulled. But these people are also voters. I hope they will remember this meeting and vote for me on Tuesday, says Wanjiku.
However, he admits that the campaign has been difficult.
– Both my physical and mental health have been put to the test. I’ve lost weight, my skin has darkened and I’ve had panic attacks.
Hate speech has been the strongest in Internet discussion groups. That’s why Wanjiku stayed away from all of them at the end of the campaign, even though they are also an important channel for election work.
We follow Wanjiku Thiga’s small election carts towards Magomano district. Wanjiku distributes the last election materials door to door. He talks with young dancers about supporting their hobby, with young men about unemployment and with children about the fact that even the poor can get important jobs.
– This is exactly what people here are longing for. That someone is present, hears their concerns and is ready to do something about things. I believe that many of them will vote for me on Tuesday.
Kenyan elections have become accustomed to violence. The deepest scars were left by the clashes after the 2007 elections, in which more than a thousand people died, and the atmosphere is tense again. Although tribal divisions are hardly visible in Kenyan everyday life, their significance is emphasized in politics.
The maturity of Kenya’s democracy is determined by whether the loser of the election accepts the election result.
‘s Africa correspondent Pasi Toivonen also shares content from his everyday life and work on Instagram @toivonenpasi