On the run: Why thugs seek cover in polls

IEBC official opening ballot boxes in a past election. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Dozens of suspected murderers, con men, thieves and charlatans are running for elective posts in the forthcoming polls under the collective slogan “our people are under siege.” Although they are running under different parties, for various posts, it is understood they have all been consulting one media firm whose mantra is “no press, is bad press.”

The strategy, strange as it may sound, is something called “brand recognition” in marketing. “They constitute ‘public figures’ in the broadest sense of the term,” an insider at the outfit told this writer. “That’s good enough for us, as our survey proved nearly nine out of 10 Kenyans could not outrightly remember what the individuals were famous for.”