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Young 'cheetahs' on the campaign trail in Kenya
New political generation challenges deep-seated corruption of ruling class
Xan Rice in Nairobi
Monday December 24, 2007
The Guardian
He found fame lampooning Kenya's leaders on national television but his next move seemed as crazy as the spelling of his comedy act's name. John Kiarie, who is 29 and part of the cult trio Redykyulass, decided to run for parliament in Thursday's election.
It was not just his age that raised eyebrows in a country where a 50-year-old MP is considered young. By campaigning in Nairobi's Dagoretti suburb, he pitted himself against a person embodying the powerful political elite: Beth Mugo, the wealthy 68-year-old incumbent and niece of the country's first president, Jomo Kenyatta.
Then there was his choice of party. Kiarie is from the majority Kikuyu ethnic group, but he opted to join the main opposition party trying to oust what it calls President Mwai Kibaki's "Kikuyu mafia" from power.
"I am taking on the status quo," said Kiarie, a powerful orator who has attracted a fanatical following among the youth in his constituency. "The days of the older, moneyed class using tribal politics to lord over the common people must end."
Kiarie is not alone in his quest. A clutch of young aspiring MPs who call themselves Kizazi Kipya - "New Generation" - are running for public office in 21st-century style, raising money through their websites and posting clips of their rallies on YouTube. Well-educated and worldly-wise, they represent the so-called "cheetah" class of Kenyans who were born after independence and lack their parents' hang-ups about ethnicity and patronage.
On the campaign trail they are selling the message that the country needs energetic young leaders who can identify with the two-thirds of voters under the age of 40, instead of sticking with the elderly "hippos" who have dominated the past few parliaments. It seems that many voters need little persuading.
While President Kibaki, 76, has presided over a far more functional and free country than existed under his disgraced predecessor, Daniel Arap Moi, he is trailing opposition leader Raila Odinga by between two and 10 percentage points, according to opinion polls.
The opposition Orange Democratic Movement claims that Kibaki, who is being strongly backed by Moi in his re-election bid, refused to tackle top-level corruption, failed to create the promised new 500,000 jobs a year, and gave his Kikuyu friends top roles in all the important ministries and state corporations.
According to Odinga, who helped elect Kibaki as part of a multi-ethnic coalition in 2002, the president's biggest mistake was an "overdependence" on the political veterans that he put in his cabinet. Four of Kibaki's closest ministers, controlling defence, internal security, roads and the vice-presidency, are over 75.
"They have let him down, the men of yesterday," said Odinga, 62, who has promised that half on his ministers will be younger than 50.
Public discontent extends far beyond the cabinet. The poor performance of the current crop of MPs, some of whom never made it past primary school, means that 60% will lose their seats, according to Koki Muli, executive director of the Nairobi-based Institute for Education in Democracy.
This should leave the door open for the young aspirants, but that would be to ignore the deeply corrupt and violent practices that have soaked into Kenyan politics since independence.
Securing a nomination from one of the two main parties required connections - and vast sums of money. A study found that £7.1m was spent trying to bribe voters during the party nominations in November. All the Kizazi Kipya candidates, with the exception of Kiarie, whose fame counted for him, were forced to run on smaller party tickets.
The skewed playing field is obvious in Mathira constituency, two hours north of Nairobi. The youngest candidate there is Edna Gathigia, 24, whose small stature - she is known locally as "The Little Girl" - is more than compensated by her energy and articulation. Currently managing a marketing business, she has a degree in international relations and spent a year as a parliamentary intern - time that convinced her of the need for new blood.
Three of her main opponents in Mathira are tycoons who have erected huge billboards along the main road and own fleets of 4X4s used to broadcast their noisy campaign messages and to dish out caps, T-shirts and, most importantly, "listening allowances" to anyone of voting age. Ranging from 40p to £1.60, the handouts are meant to buy votes.
Gathigia has nothing to give out except a few campaign posters. As she drove her mother's old grey Toyota Corolla around the red dirt roads in the foothills of Mount Kenya last week, she was forced to explain this to the people who crowded around her car.
"If you elect somebody who is just giving out cash for votes they won't help you," said Gathigia, speaking into a microphone as the rain fell. "You have to choose between a bit of money and the vision of a person who will work for you for five years."
Gathigia knows her tiny budget and refusal to give handouts means that she cannot win. But she has made an impact: businessmen backing her three main opponents keep trying to buy her off, even offering her a new car to drop out of the race and support their candidate.
Elsewhere, the tactics are less subtle. Kiarie had his arm badly broken by thugs hired by one of his opponents when he picked up his party nomination forms. Edwin Macharia, who is 29 and vying for the Kieni seat in central Kenya, never sleeps in the same house two nights in a row for fear of attack.
His impressive background - jobs with management consultants McKinsey in New York and Bill Clinton's charitable foundation - has unsettled his opponents, who include Chris Murungaru, the incumbent MP who was forced to resign his cabinet post over corruption allegations.
"Our generation has been able to drive the economic growth in this country," Macharia said. "But we have not been able to reach politics. Kenya cannot work properly if the political space is not there."
Jonathan Mueke, 31, who is standing for MP in Nairobi, where he owns an IT business, agrees. "We have to stop the hippos who are slowing us cheetahs down."
The favourite
Raila Odinga, who is favourite to become Kenya's fourth president this week, is the country's most colourful and enigmatic politician. The son of an independence hero, he studied engineering in East Germany and spent eight years in jail as a political prisoner under Daniel Arap Moi. His support was crucial in winning Mwai Kibaki the presidency in 2002, but he left the government after Kibaki tried to force through an unpopular constitution. "Raila", as he is known in Kenya, drives a bright red Hummer 4X4 and describes himself as The People's President and as a pan-Africanist. His energy, charisma and defiance have helped him capture the youth vote across tribal lines. He has promised to rebuild the country's infrastructure, especially the road and rail networks, and to end corruption.
In numbers
14.3m Number of registered voters
40 Two-thirds of the country's voters are under the age of 40
300 More than 300 political parties are fighting for election
2,500 Number of parliamentary candidates
15,000 Local election observers
9 Number of presidential candidates, including President Mwai Kibaki and favourite Raila Odinga
New political generation challenges deep-seated corruption of ruling class
Xan Rice in Nairobi
Monday December 24, 2007
The Guardian
He found fame lampooning Kenya's leaders on national television but his next move seemed as crazy as the spelling of his comedy act's name. John Kiarie, who is 29 and part of the cult trio Redykyulass, decided to run for parliament in Thursday's election.
It was not just his age that raised eyebrows in a country where a 50-year-old MP is considered young. By campaigning in Nairobi's Dagoretti suburb, he pitted himself against a person embodying the powerful political elite: Beth Mugo, the wealthy 68-year-old incumbent and niece of the country's first president, Jomo Kenyatta.
Then there was his choice of party. Kiarie is from the majority Kikuyu ethnic group, but he opted to join the main opposition party trying to oust what it calls President Mwai Kibaki's "Kikuyu mafia" from power.
"I am taking on the status quo," said Kiarie, a powerful orator who has attracted a fanatical following among the youth in his constituency. "The days of the older, moneyed class using tribal politics to lord over the common people must end."
Kiarie is not alone in his quest. A clutch of young aspiring MPs who call themselves Kizazi Kipya - "New Generation" - are running for public office in 21st-century style, raising money through their websites and posting clips of their rallies on YouTube. Well-educated and worldly-wise, they represent the so-called "cheetah" class of Kenyans who were born after independence and lack their parents' hang-ups about ethnicity and patronage.
On the campaign trail they are selling the message that the country needs energetic young leaders who can identify with the two-thirds of voters under the age of 40, instead of sticking with the elderly "hippos" who have dominated the past few parliaments. It seems that many voters need little persuading.
While President Kibaki, 76, has presided over a far more functional and free country than existed under his disgraced predecessor, Daniel Arap Moi, he is trailing opposition leader Raila Odinga by between two and 10 percentage points, according to opinion polls.
The opposition Orange Democratic Movement claims that Kibaki, who is being strongly backed by Moi in his re-election bid, refused to tackle top-level corruption, failed to create the promised new 500,000 jobs a year, and gave his Kikuyu friends top roles in all the important ministries and state corporations.
According to Odinga, who helped elect Kibaki as part of a multi-ethnic coalition in 2002, the president's biggest mistake was an "overdependence" on the political veterans that he put in his cabinet. Four of Kibaki's closest ministers, controlling defence, internal security, roads and the vice-presidency, are over 75.
"They have let him down, the men of yesterday," said Odinga, 62, who has promised that half on his ministers will be younger than 50.
Public discontent extends far beyond the cabinet. The poor performance of the current crop of MPs, some of whom never made it past primary school, means that 60% will lose their seats, according to Koki Muli, executive director of the Nairobi-based Institute for Education in Democracy.
This should leave the door open for the young aspirants, but that would be to ignore the deeply corrupt and violent practices that have soaked into Kenyan politics since independence.
Securing a nomination from one of the two main parties required connections - and vast sums of money. A study found that £7.1m was spent trying to bribe voters during the party nominations in November. All the Kizazi Kipya candidates, with the exception of Kiarie, whose fame counted for him, were forced to run on smaller party tickets.
The skewed playing field is obvious in Mathira constituency, two hours north of Nairobi. The youngest candidate there is Edna Gathigia, 24, whose small stature - she is known locally as "The Little Girl" - is more than compensated by her energy and articulation. Currently managing a marketing business, she has a degree in international relations and spent a year as a parliamentary intern - time that convinced her of the need for new blood.
Three of her main opponents in Mathira are tycoons who have erected huge billboards along the main road and own fleets of 4X4s used to broadcast their noisy campaign messages and to dish out caps, T-shirts and, most importantly, "listening allowances" to anyone of voting age. Ranging from 40p to £1.60, the handouts are meant to buy votes.
Gathigia has nothing to give out except a few campaign posters. As she drove her mother's old grey Toyota Corolla around the red dirt roads in the foothills of Mount Kenya last week, she was forced to explain this to the people who crowded around her car.
"If you elect somebody who is just giving out cash for votes they won't help you," said Gathigia, speaking into a microphone as the rain fell. "You have to choose between a bit of money and the vision of a person who will work for you for five years."
Gathigia knows her tiny budget and refusal to give handouts means that she cannot win. But she has made an impact: businessmen backing her three main opponents keep trying to buy her off, even offering her a new car to drop out of the race and support their candidate.
Elsewhere, the tactics are less subtle. Kiarie had his arm badly broken by thugs hired by one of his opponents when he picked up his party nomination forms. Edwin Macharia, who is 29 and vying for the Kieni seat in central Kenya, never sleeps in the same house two nights in a row for fear of attack.
His impressive background - jobs with management consultants McKinsey in New York and Bill Clinton's charitable foundation - has unsettled his opponents, who include Chris Murungaru, the incumbent MP who was forced to resign his cabinet post over corruption allegations.
"Our generation has been able to drive the economic growth in this country," Macharia said. "But we have not been able to reach politics. Kenya cannot work properly if the political space is not there."
Jonathan Mueke, 31, who is standing for MP in Nairobi, where he owns an IT business, agrees. "We have to stop the hippos who are slowing us cheetahs down."
The favourite
Raila Odinga, who is favourite to become Kenya's fourth president this week, is the country's most colourful and enigmatic politician. The son of an independence hero, he studied engineering in East Germany and spent eight years in jail as a political prisoner under Daniel Arap Moi. His support was crucial in winning Mwai Kibaki the presidency in 2002, but he left the government after Kibaki tried to force through an unpopular constitution. "Raila", as he is known in Kenya, drives a bright red Hummer 4X4 and describes himself as The People's President and as a pan-Africanist. His energy, charisma and defiance have helped him capture the youth vote across tribal lines. He has promised to rebuild the country's infrastructure, especially the road and rail networks, and to end corruption.
In numbers
14.3m Number of registered voters
40 Two-thirds of the country's voters are under the age of 40
300 More than 300 political parties are fighting for election
2,500 Number of parliamentary candidates
15,000 Local election observers
9 Number of presidential candidates, including President Mwai Kibaki and favourite Raila Odinga
