By Jackson
Let me begin by congratulating you on your nomination as your coalition’s flagbearer. I write to you in my capacity as a citizen and a staunch supporter of your political body of work. Sir, as odd as it may sound, clinching the nomination was the easy part, what lies ahead of you is one of the most daunting of tasks! I possess no political clairvoyance and I certainly do not claim to be an evangelist of political smarts. But it’s my patriotic and the unflinching belief in the struggle that has inspired this letter.
Its on the strength of the aforementioned premise that I wish to pencil the dos and donts in this election season. The political landmines are just feet away from explosion. And I mean items, words and behavior that can turn the race upside down.
In American political lore, there is the story of the folks who created P.U.M.A, which stands for People United Means Action. It was a political action committee formed by supporters of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries. They believed that Hillary was the people’s choice and having won the biggest states like Ohio and Florida, they argued that Senator Obama was just a political poseur out to torpedoe their candidate’s march to the White House.
But as time went by, it became clear that Senator Obama’s delegate lead was insurmountable and what followed was a belabored concession speech and a painstakingly choreographed political parlay to iron out the differences between both camps ahead of the convention in Denver. Unbeknownst to Team Obama, Hillary’s support was just that – hers. Her supporters were still not onboard and P.U.M.A quickly changed to Party Unity My Ass!
It took unprecedented efforts from Team Clinton to pacify her supporters. PUMA closed shop in 2011. But in 2016, Team Clinton never recovered from the primary battle against Senator Sanders. This time, Party Unity became elusive with devastating consequences!
Sir, now that you are the chosen one, it will be foolhardy to assume that those behind your co- principals are automatically sold or onboard. There are folks who campaigned and lobbied for their leading lights and today’s verdict is clearly incongruent to their wishes. They will still fall prey to Statehouse political cognoscentis predictable overtures and political bidding. Expect a wall- to- wall carpet bombing from the other side.
In fact, they have started to poke holes on your arrangement. Citing constitutional barriers, afew doppelgangers flooded social media with blistering attacks on the new offices to be created in a NASA government. Expect more pointed attacks like this to be directed at your co- principals, especially the ones whose portfolio will be debuting in the NASA government.
Since this political chess move mirrors the 2002 manoeuvre, Musalia Mudavadi is now squarely on their crosshairs, they will try to entice and persuade him to do what he did in 2002 hoping that he didn’t learn anything from the 2002 snafu. Your job will be to reassure your teammates and masterfully counter Jubilee.
Sir, remember that you are running against two individuals who complement each other almost to perfection. The president’s forte is provoking anger by playing victim and icing the cake by shooting from the hip in vernacular. His deputy’s strong suit is a knack for verbal gymnastics and sometimes spewing narratives that are a thousand acres away from the truth. The upshot? The two, combined, make a devastating political weapon. And that is why you must carefully choose your words on the hustings.
The following MUST not feature in your speeches: Land, ICC, jail, historical injustices, post election violence andTJRC. Here is why.
The folks who own Kenya have vast pieces of land and the last thing that they want to see or hear is someone or something that will fundamentally change what they have or own. They will stop at nothing to ensure that they protect those who protect them. 2007 Presidential contest is exhibit A.
Any talk about jail will be heard and interpreted by some very powerful folks that you still harbour a personal vendetta against those who detained you without trial. They will stop at nothing to ensure that you don’t get there lest you revenge! Ever wondered why a certain Senator’s support is always elusive despite the fact that his party sent an emissary ( Nick Salat) to grace NASA functions?
The letters ICC must not feature in your lexicon. Remember that the cases were suspended (not terminated) due to lack of cooperation from the government, meaning that if a ‘friendly’ government takes over, the general assumption is that they might cooperate with the ICC and just like that, all hell will break lose! Should you win the election, it will be upon the current occupants to handover power to you and it’s anyone guess whether they will be willing to give someone whose rhetoric echoes the ICC.
TJRC, historical injustices etc are important issues that should be addressed but it’s also important to note the emotional weight that they carry. Using these items as a cudgel in this election will elicit unnecessary tension in certain communities and further expose you to more innuendo.
It’s not smart to hand the deputy President a low hanging fruit that he can easily flip into another MAU forest or how you plotted to ship them to the ICC. He is the best in this business bar none and his 2013 performance should go down as Josef Goebbels political innuendo 101.
Make this election a choice between Jubilee’s economic record and what you are offering. Keep it about the economy and healthcare. More jobs for the youth and sharp message of a life after the dark days of the Jubilee regime.
Remind Kenyans that they deserve better because they have now seen what Jubilee has done, it’s time for a different direction. No Kenyan should ever be exposed to the catastrophe that is the Jubilee administration. Ever again. Go for it.
Yours truly,
Nicco Machiavelli
For Pythagoras Strategies Inc
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