Governor Murang’a County Often, the crowd does the prompting by chanting “Coro Maiii” (the trumpet needs water). The politician gets the drift and the people line-up for some token. How much is given to the audience depends on several factors.
Some aspirants give Sh500 per attendee. Others Sh200. In Northern Kenya, it is said to be a minimum of Sh1,000.
This culture maybe deemed by the law as “illegal” but it is so ingrained in people’s psyche that in some instances pro-government politicians get police escort as they dish out “sitting allowance”. It does not necessarily mean those that give will clinch the seats. There are many instances where voters consider some aspirants as Mkahawa (hotel) where they ‘eat’ but on polling day they close down the hotel and vote for another preferred aspirant.
Nonetheless, the handout culture has a tendency to tilt the political scales in favour of richer candidates who can dish out cash because people generally feel happy upon receiving a token. Notwithstanding the fact that it is unfair to poor or youthful candidates who might have better ideas but lack cash for “sitting allowances”. Such practice makes politics expensive and incentivises leaders to amass resources using unorthodox means to boost their re-election chances.
And the cycle goes on — one uses money to clinch a seat, spends time seeking resources using unorthodox means thereby hurting the populace/economy, get the resources and be re-elected. What less.