While condoling with the family of Catherine Kasavuli, the late meticulous television journalist, George Wajackoyah jogged my mind to reflect on his campaign style and manifesto.
Politics, like any other game, has rules that define its boundaries. No candidate understood this better than Prof Wajackoyah.
He played on the margins of the political field, creating an aura of anxiety and controversy that left onlookers wondering whether he broke the rules, played off-field, or got out of order.
Ask about Bishop Mwaure and none, including me, will confidently acknowledge knowing him, let alone following him. For Prof Wajackoyah, no one, young or old, in the villages and towns alike, misses mentioning his name with a smile.
Prof Wajackoyah's candidacy was a tension reliever in a politically bruising battle for State House. But for a seasoned and socially conscious citizen, there were volumes of lessons and findings to be deduced from his perverse campaign.Several questions are in order here, why did his campaigns attract such publicity in nearly every part of the country? Was there any sense in his agenda?
And finally, why did he take home a merger harvest? Prof Wajackoyah was not your typical candidate; he was the most educated of all the candidates.
His authority was beyond doubt hence, there was no question about his comprehension.
Prof Wajackoyah understood well that politics is not a game for the good or rational figures, but for the witty and meek, the masters of persuasion, and the first step towards influence is courting attention.
If you thought he meant everything he uttered, you are wrong; most was just attention bait.
Laughing stock
Prof Wajackoyah took the joke a little bit too far, from marijuana to suspension of the Constitution to snake farming, finally ending at the hyena's whatever, turning himself into a laughing stock eventually.
But I am sure that if Kenyans had gathered enough courage and elected the professor, barely a fraction of his agenda would have seen the light of day.
But what exactly was the kernel of Prof Wajackoyah's campaign? To me, the huge following on his crusade shows a leadership desperation that the young people, who were primarily his followers, are locked in.Our leadership has sunk so low that voters could literally cling onto any outlandish idea in the hope for change.
Prof Wajackoyah made a very profound point; that it is time to rethink and explore other factors of production if resuscitating our economy is what we hope to do.
We can't keep the same old practices and expect a different outcome.
