My take on the middle class’ new love affair with Waititu and Sonko

I try to stay away from politics for various reasons, but this just had to be said. We often complain that the poor masses are easily swayed and are the reason we have bad leadership, but as an observer of our campaigns and how they influence our thought processes, the middle class is no different.

I could write about the pro-TNA middle class who are voting Uhuru because they’d rather die than have Raila in power and can’t “waste” their vote on Peter Kenneth or Martha Karua because they won’t win anyways.

I could write about the highly rational people I know who are voting Raila not because he appeals to their rational nature ( to be honest I can’t recall a sensible speech from the man, but then I’ve watched very few), but because they’d rather die than have another Kikuyu in power.

I however want to write about our bludgeoning love for the two thugs in town, Waititu and Sonko. Yes, I use the word thugs liberally, because the reasons they’ve made news in the last 5 years make them no different from the stone throwing thugs we know.

Sure, Sonko dishes out money to the poor like he owns Central Bank (one can argue that his rumored “pharmaceuticals” business is funded by the poor anyway), and Waititu is known for defending the poor’s rights (and also for his desire to kick out some tribes from certain slum areas). That is not why the middle class has fallen in love with the two.

They are in love because the two have proven that they, can hold a moderately intelligent conversation in a TV interviews/debate. Is that all it takes? I would hope for all the TV we watch, we know of campaign strategists and coaches, or are we as easily swayed as the masses, only by the tongue and not money like them?
Are we the proverbial Nairobi girl that is swayed by the sight of a Range Rover and a promise of a high life, only to realize that they were funded from borrowed money, which she helps repay for the rest of her married life?

What about the all important quality in a leader, integrity? Where did Sonko get his money from, or that doesn’t matter as long as he can dish it out and he knows what people need? Waititu has no love for the Masai (unless we also fell for his hilarious explanation of that statement), and God knows which other tribe. Is that who we want for governor because “he understands the poor’s needs”? I pick just two ridiculous cases, we all know the drama the two have generated.

People need to be discerning. If the quality of available leadership is that bad, take a position by abstaining, rather than picking the least rotten apple. My take.