Kenyans could waste their time, vote on baseless propaganda

After engaging Kenyans of all social cadres, I conclude that most are prone to political propaganda. So, come August, most will make propaganda-influenced decisions at the ballot. A few are aware of it because they are part of systemic biases, while most are as innocent as lambs. We are already experiencing an upsurge of unfathomable political propaganda right, left and centre. So from now on, any political claims that cannot lead to prosecution are better treated contemptuously as cheap propaganda.

President Uhuru Kenyatta made a classic example in January last year when he publicly claimed that the country where he is commander-in-chief, the land he swore to defend against corruption and other economic evils loses Sh2 billion daily to plunderers. However, as long as this expose did not name the culprits or lead to prosecution, it is ‘royal’ propaganda coming from the State House. Such information from the president led to many speculations—which are vanity because he did not act on his accusations as president.

We wonder why renowned politicians implicated in corruption are not prosecuted. What makes legal agencies not investigate and arraign them? Why doesn’t the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) bar them from the ballot in line with Chapter Six of the Constitution? Such a culture of inaction could only mean two things; either the claims are propaganda and therefore can’t stand trial, or the agencies are desperately incapable. It’s propaganda!

Moreover, haven’t we realised that it is only during the electioneering period when politicians’ eyes suddenly open to see each other’s social and economic evils? So, mark you, politicising our leaders’ public theft, corruption, assassination claims, and moral decadence institutionalise the evils in our political psyche. Resultantly, it will ‘legalise’ plunder of public coffers, corruption and, to the extreme, assassinations.

Therefore, all that we hear from political rallies are mostly lies. Today, a politician is highlighting integrity issues of a nemesis and another day, they are together as white as cotton. This does not have to be exemplified because all politicians are culprits.

Political propaganda is any well-coordinated information, whether spoken, written, visual or otherwise, that spreads fear, rumours, lies, distorted truths and facts that influence public opinion about a person, group of persons or phenomena. Therefore, propaganda is any narrative whose aim is to control and dominate through manipulation and intimidation. It is a form of modern ‘popular witchcraft’.

Politicians will continue to make unconfirmed claims against their opponents in rallies. Some of these claims are incredibly insensitive—woe unto the common mwananchi who can’t differentiate fakery and exaggeration from the truth. Such propaganda could affect the future of our nation if not checked. But that’s politics—it forages on dirt.

More disturbing is the plethora of sponsored propagandists such as bloggers and influencers, who share distorted information through multimedia forms, targeting over 12 million Kenyans online. In addition, these political masochists push for sponsored hashtags to tarnish their competitors. We have also seen avaricious caricaturists paid up to make propagandist illustrations, some of which should be classified as offensive to the online community. Renowned cartoonist Godfrey ‘Gado’ Mwampembwa bemoans that the trend is dangerous but off the hook unless those involved decide to uphold artistic integrity, root for a just society, and respect their creative calling.

This is the conclusion: in political rallies, Kenyans must demand information that will lead them to make informed decisions in August. However, as long as mwananchi continue to hanker for whipped emotions, they wake up early to the ballot without their heads. They will make wrong decisions that will set them for another round of five or 10 years of an oppressive and careless regime. 

The writer is a lecturer of communication and media. @Dr_Mndonye