In the Game of Voter-Turn-Out, NASA is Loosing Again

August 8^th is almost here and Kenyans will flock to their polling station to choose their most preferred candidates for elective office. Unlike other advanced democracies where the candidate with the best ideas wins; in Kenya the candidate with the largest tribal alliance wins. In his speech at the Fearless summit, Dr. Lumumba bluntly describes the Kenyan election as a competition of who will bring forth the largest tribal alliance. Sad as it is that is how the Kenyan democracy operates in its current stage of development and NASA is too moral to acknowledge this and play by the rules of this dirty game. By the end of the day on August 8^th the alliance that would have convinced the most members to come out on election day will win.

In the previous election, Jubilee had the upper hand on the turn-out game. The alliance had chosen the most appealing mantra for their followers. President Uhuru and his deputy knew that martyrdom is a deeply emotional subject and by presenting themselves as sacrificial lambs who had been unfairly singled out to be sacrificed for the sins of all their people; they would give each jubilee supporter a liberating reason to turn-out on election day. By turning out on election day, almost every average jubilee member had a liberating feeling that they were saving themselves from the guilt of abandoning one of their own to suffer for the sins of a whole community.

In this election NASA has the upper hand. There is no doubt that Jubilee has achieved a significant development record; the economy is growing, devolution is working, you can travel from Mombasa to Nairobi in four and half hours and there is electricity in most villages. However, the things that matter most are still elusive and life has become even harder under this administration than ever before. The stench of corruption leaves a stale taste in every development record achieved by jubilee. Yes the trip to Mombasa is faster and cheaper but the cost of it in comparison to other similar ones elsewhere leaves one feeling duped. There are more graduates and fewer Jobs and the country is literally starving.

In this election it's NASA that can give a liberating feeling to the voter who turns out on election day but NASA is losing in this game again. Jubilee is spending a significant amount of time in their support base stirring up emotions that will give their supporters a liberating feeling come election day. They are always re-inventing and improvising. For instance, when Raila advised the Maasai not to be cheated into selling their land at throwaway price; Jubilee picked up on it and said he is inciting the Maasai to evict them from the land they rightfully bought.

Rallies shifted to Central and Rift Valley to spread the new Mantra, songs were made, every public rally, every media conversation was re-invented. Posters appeared on the streets out of the blues warning the jubilee communities to move out stirring up fear. People were made to understand that getting out on election day will be saving their community from being evicted from their lands. In Rift Valley, Jubilee tried to resurrect the ICC mantra by saying that the opposition was attempting to revive the fallen ICC cases.

NASA on the other hand, is wasting valuable time that could be spent giving their supporters the right emotions to turn-out. They are attempting to market their agenda to hypnotize Jubilee supporters instead of spending time within their base showing their members all the things that may go wrong if they lose and presenting lose as a possibility. Instead of staying on script and re-inventing new reasons to give their members a sense of fulfillment for every turn-out, they are caught in jubilation. They are spreading a sense of victory with their 10 million strong Mantra that makes their members think they have already won even before they turn-out. While NASA is spreading a sense of victory, Jubilee is spreading the fear of losing with horrific consequences attached to it which stirs the right emotions to create turn-out. In the turn-out game, jubilee is winning and this might just be the determining factor on election day.