Parties should sell manifestos, not insults
What you need to know:
Candidates for the positions of governor, senator, Woman Representative, Member of Parliament and Member of County Assembly are doing better than their bosses.
They are selling their agenda of what they will do if elected.
Top leaders of Nasa and the Jubilee Party would rather take the cue from them before it is too late.
As the Jubilee Party launched its manifesto on Monday with pomp in Kasarani, Nairobi many people had expected some new promises, to no avail. The launch was full of platitudes of the past (2013-2017) and signified nothingness to the future.
It is important for the top leaders of the Jubilee Party and National Super Alliance to urgently shift the gears in their campaigns. They should tell fellow Kenyans their agenda: what thy will do if they retain or come to power, rather than calling one another names. For several months now, both sides have not been saying what exactly they will do differently if elected on August 8.
EVEN ADVERTISEMENTS
Instead, at every rally, Jubilee’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto and Orange Democratic Movement presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his three co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula have been busy discussing and insulting one another. Even their advertisements dwell on the same trivia instead of policies. Some few home truths on both sides would suffice here. Jubilee needs to know that during the 1997 election campaigns in Britain, Prime Minister John Major was at a loss. He dwelt on what the Conservative Party had achieved. He lost heavily. Mr Major had even reminded Britons that his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, had won the Falklands War against Argentina 10 years earlier. The Brits were not interested because they lost many lives in that war. For Nasa, the lesson is from Mr Tony Blair, who took Britain by storm. He made a drastic shift from traditional Labour to campaign on New Labour. He sold a new party different from old activist wages Labour, which had been consigned to the Opposition for years. He won with a landslide.
PREDICTABLE AGENDA
Both Jubilee and Nasa have had a predictable campaign agenda – answer backs. For UhuRuto, it is “people of vitenda wili, mkate nusu, bindu bichenjanga (proverbs, half-loaf, things are changing) and what Mr Odinga supposedly did not do when he was in government. Then they have been adding perceived achievements – SGR, electricity in mud houses, tarmac roads, and Sh90 unga.
The talk on Nasa’s side is on – corrupt Jubilee, unavailable unga, SGR is (former President Mwai) Kibaki’s. Mr Odinga is all about land, ICC and ethnic differences. He should emphasise what he will do if elected. For Jubilee to sell its manifesto effectively the President and his Deputy should consider splitting their campaigns. When one is in Malindi, the other should be in Busia. Their current “Siamese-twin-like movement” is hurting their campaign, while the Opposition is all over. I am a staunch supporter of Chelsea and AFC Leopards. To borrow from bindu bichenga, I am yet to see any of the sides on the toes omundu khu mundu (man-to-man) original meaning in Luhya epithet’s football – police marking.
Like Blair’s, voters are yet to be told about new Nasa. And for Jubilee, Kenyans are yet to be told what it will do which the manifesto is scant on. What Kenyans want to know from both sides are simple issues.
Wanjiku wants lower prices of mboga, ugali and matatu fares. Masons and carpenters want an improved construction industry. Farmers want to know about cheap fertiliser, extension services, the future of the ailing sugar industry and revival of Webuye’s PanPaper Mill.
Gubernatorial, Senate, Woman Representative, MP and MCA candidates are doing better than their bosses. They are selling their agenda of what they will do if elected. Jubilee and Nasa top leaders would rather take the cue from them before it is too late – shift the campaign to sell your manifestos. Period.
Emman Omari is a political commentator.
