Is Prof. Wajackoya eating into Ruto’s hustlers base?

Roots Party presidential candidate Professor George Wajackoya and his running mate Justina Wambui have hit the Kenyan political scene with a storm.  Whether by plan or coincidence, the professor who wants to be the 5^th president of Kenya has laid a claim to “the 5^th” via the hashtag #Wajackoyathe5th which has been trending online daily for almost a week now.

Historically, Kenyans are accustomed to candidates who provide comic relief during elections but this man Wajackoya is proving to be more than just that. In the 2013 and 2017 elections, Mohamed Abduba Dida Mohammed Abduba Dida is a Kenyan teacher who vied for the country’s presidency in the 2013 General Election on an Alliance of Real Change party ticket was the man who honestly tackled the issues from a common man’s perspective in contrast to the scripted sometimes emotional exchanges by the frontrunners.

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In 2017, other than Raila Odinga andUhuru Kenyatta, there other fringe candidates including Mohamed Abduba Dida, John Ekuru Longoggy Aukot, Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo, Japhet Kavinga Kaluyu, Michael Wainaina Mwaura, and Joseph William Nthiga Nyagah.  Out of these only Prof Michael Wainaina who was able to tackle issues the frontrunners who had been part of the system shied away from.

And come 2022, out of 55 presidential aspirants, only four made it to the shortlist of approved presidential candidates.  Other than Raila Odinga and William Ruto who are considered frontrunners, we have David Mwaure of Agano Party and of course Wajackoya. 

While nothing much is known about David Mwaure, Wajackoya campaigning on the platform of legalising marijuana is slowly getting the attention of the youth especially 18-30 years’ old who are excited about the prospect of Kenya being a ganja country. He however says the marijuana will not be for smoking but for its economic benefit saying a high percentage will be exported.

The 63-year-old teetotaller with 10 degrees and 7 diplomas has taken to social media to urge Kenyans to peer into his manifesto when he launches it next month.  He wants Kenyans to ignore religious and social biases and make independent and wise decisions on where we want our country to be in the next 5 years. 

He says that after the legalization of recreational Cannabis in Canada in 2018, the industry has contributed $43.5 billion to national GDP and created 98,000 jobs. Therefore, he says “Our plan for using weed to pay debt as it worked in Canada.” 

Apart from legalizing and commercializing marijuana, Prof. Wajackoyah also said he plans to cash in on the lucrative anti-venom market by farming poisonous snakes and extracting toxins from them that will enable the country to locally manufacture antidotes for export.  The Roots party candidate is expected to unveil his much anticipated 12-point agenda manifesto on July 2, 2022.

Pundits are already saying Wajackoya will not just be another Dida but is likely to get a huge chunk of the hustlers vote since he seems to be more of a hustler having been a street boy, grave digger, watchman, and policeman. “95% of youths will vote for Wajackoyah. 60% of the male adults between the age of 50 to 70 will vote for this man. Wajackoyah is not based on any tribe. Wajackoyah will be voted by Over 500,000 people #WajackoyahThe5th” says @lemaiyanmshairi on twitter.

Deputy President William Ruto whose hustlers’ narrative was coined to appeal to the youth vote who are the majority. He however dropped the narrative and is now focused on the bottom up slogan targeting people at the bottom of the economy.

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