'Kata simu': Laughter, banter, slang use as Wamae and Mutua face off

Justina Wamae (L) shakes hands with Agano Party’s Ruth Mutua during the deputy presidential debate at CUEA on July 17, 2022. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Clarification-quest, banter, disbelief, use of slang, regular laughter and passionate defense of respective manifestos dominated tier-one of the deputy presidential debate on Tuesday.

Roots Party’s Justina Wamae and Agano Party’s Ruth Mutua had a warm start, with the candidates underscoring the need of respect for each other.

They mutually described themselves as “leaders who are beyond the woman gender tag”.

“Ruth and I are assuring Kenyans that there won’t be any catfight [between us],” said Justina Wamae, a statement corroborated by her Agano Party counterpart.

As the two differed on many aspects of their manifestos, deep divisions played out on the role of bhang in society.

Justina Wamae and her principal, George Wajackoyah, are advocating for bhang trade for purposes of offsetting the country’s debt and reducing the tax burden on Kenyans.

“We wish to run a profitable government, devoid of debts and high taxes,” Justina Wamae said as she defended their passionate appeal on the need for marijuana legalisation.

“Let’s say the truth, bhang is illegal. We’d love to see how they’ll sell an illegal substance to us. How far can they go with bhang?” Ruth Mutua posed, as she sought a response from Wamae.

In efforts to clarify the type of bhang that they are championing, Wamae said: “We are advocating for industrial marijuana and not one that would be used for leisure.”

Despite her strong defense of bhang trade, Wamae drew laughter from the audience at CUEA when she said: “I have never smoked bhang and will never.”

Wamae was at pains to explain how bhang would “purify” Kenyans’ health and lives after insisting that marijuana is what Kenya needed to heal an ailing population and a burdened economy.

“Honestly, I don’t know what we are purifying with bhang,” said Ruth Mutua, prompting Wamae to respond.

“We are going to purify the scarcity mentality that ails Kenya,” said Wamae, crowning her response by asking her competitor to “read books”.

Defending how marijuana could be used in the medical world, Wamae stated that the crop had been used successfully on people living with epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

The two also differed on how Kenya would deal with corrupt State officials, with Mutua saying her government alongside David Mwaure would follow the law to the letter in ensuring that corruption was tackled.

To suggest how serious her quest on the corruption fight was, she symbolically asked her competitors to “end unnecessary calls, as she and Mwaure were busy on site working for Kenyans”.

“Kata simu, tuko site (Hang up please, we’re working for the nation),” she said often during the debate.

On how Wamae and her principal, Wajackoyah, would tackle graft, the 35-year-old said: “We’ll hang them.”

Wamae and Mutua also drew division between themselves, when Wamae said her administration alongside Wajackoyah would legalise snake farming.

The purpose of snake-farming, she said, was to complement bhang farming, which is aimed at raising enough funds to offset Kenya’s debts.

The venom harvested from snakes, Wamae said, would be sold at lucrative prices. Mutua said she “doesn’t understand” how Wamae and Wajackoyah would run a government with their “ridiculous” schools of thought.

Wamae said Kenya was in need of economic liberation. According to her, bearded men are pretending to be breeding facial hair, yet in reality, they “don’t have enough disposable income to shave”.

“There’s nothing like a beard gang, ni pesa youth hawana ya kunyoa,” she said, sending the crowd into laughter.

At the end of the debate, the two women hugged, indicating their sportsmanship and offstage camaraderie.