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President William Ruto’s tour of Mount Kenya region was preceded by intense mobilisation at every stop that he made, with huge amount of money spent in the mobilisation machinery, leaving many residents with their pockets full.
With many speculating that the President would be met with hostility following the dramatic fallout with his former deputy Rigathi Gachagua who has been on a charm offensive in the region criticising Ruto, every aspect of the tour, including mobilisation was managed with precision.
To ensure that President Ruto did not drive through empty streets and into empty venues or get greeted by jeers leaders, through their aides and proxies turned to the old, familiar trick of political crowds for hire to add on to the organic crowd and give the euphoric feeling of love, loyalty and overwhelming support.
A bodaboda rider and youth leader based in Nyeri who asked to be referred to as Njuguna confirmed to this writer that money was splashed in an elaborate scheme, detailing how the whole mobilisation machinery worked.
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Ni kweli tulikanjwa, mimi nilijengwa ngiri tatu wengine mbili au moja. Nduthi pia zikajazwa mafuta ndio tufuate waheshimiwa na kila mtu abebe watu anaweza. It is true we received money and I personally got Sh3000 while others received two or one thousand shillings and my motorbike also fuelled to enable me to follow the convoy from one stop to the next while also carrying as many people as I could).
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Njuguna’s account was corroborated by Nyeri County Boda boda Association chairman Charles Ndegwa who in a separate interview with The Standard confirmed that 1,300 riders were mobilized and paid to attend the event.
READ: PHOTOS: Ruto receives overwhelming welcome on 1st day of Mt Kenya tour
“Riders from Kabaru and Kimahuri received Sh1,500 each, riders from Chaka were paid Sh1,200, while those based in Narumoru got Sh1,000 each. The numbers are growing because many riders see this as an opportunity not only to make some money but also to show their political alignment,” he said as quoted by the publication.
A huge crowd running alongside the convoy from one stop to the next, cheering and smiling adds to the euphoric feeling of a leader embraced and loved by many even when this may not be the reality.
Tactics used and how the political mobilisation machinery works
The smiles, the cheers came at a cost with those tasked with mobilisation understanding the assignment and delivering in a way that impressed according to an insider involved with the plans.
READ: Is Ruto’s bag of goodies enough to win back Mt Kenya region?
Community opinion shapers were identified in the various locations and assigned with gathering 30 people who would accompany them to the various stopovers.
The demography was broken into three: Women, youth and bodaboda riders with a clear plan and assignment of roles.
For their efforts, they received Sh10,000 with those mobilised receiving varying amounts depending on the number of stops that they accompanied the visiting dignitaries to.
Boda boda riders were mobile and tasked with carrying as many people as possible from one stop over to the next while chasing the convoy and honking.
Energetic youth who could make it on foot ran alongside the long line of high-end vehicles, singing praises and those who could find space rode on bodaboda as pillion passengers (in addition to their pay for the day, fuel was provided to bodaboda riders to facilitate this).
The more stops one showed up at, the higher the pay and boda boda riders were paid to ensure that anyone who wished to make it to the next stop was not left behind.
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At markets, women who form the bulk of traders too had their day and were mobilized in this elaborate scheme.
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The nature of their involvement means that they earn less than the youth and bodaboda riders with reports indicating that for the Mount Kenya tour, they collected between Sh700 and Sh1000 for a day of ‘work’.
Strategic positioning of hired crowds & the media
Having the convoy come with the crowd into a sparsely populated venue would raise eyebrows and expose the plot and this is where hired women come in, joined by men and the organic crowd that is not paid.
They are to stay grounded at the venue for as long as it takes, cheer/jeer, ululate sing praises and create the charged atmosphere of love or miss out on the pay
The youth and boda boda riders paid to attend the event were stationed in the respective centers to give the visiting guests a rousing welcome as they made their way through and afterwards follow them to the next stop for those who could where another crowd awaited.
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Unlike the youth and the bodaboda riders who were mobile, women were to show up at one stop, blend in with the organic crowd in a game of cheering and jeering as the case may be.
Supervision of hired crowd & maintaining discipline
In a phone interview with this writer, an individual privy to how political mobilisation who has involved in grassroot mobilisation for the President’s mount Kenya region tour confirmed that in addition to hiring crowds and handing over the pay, mobilisers are also tasked with providing oversight including line-of-sight to ensure that those in their payroll for the day do not ‘misbehave’.
Misbehaving means not cheering or jeering when they should and vice versa and an occasional sweeping glance by the leader on his team which is often positioned strategically around him and in the full view of the cameras is sufficient to provide line of sight.
For bodaboda riders, branded reflector jackets and an assurance that they can flout laws at will including riding on the wrong lane/side of the road and carrying more than the capacity of pillion passengers without consequences completes the deal.
Mobilisers also provide placards with agreed favourable messaging for whoever is paying or the side that they support, which are to be held strategically by those hired and are under instructions to court the press at all costs.
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Any opportunity, say to be interviewed by the press is to be used exclusively to heap praises on the politician paying them and criticise opponents and this way, a choreographed script is mistaken for the reality on the ground.
Alert Kenyans have in the past picked out conspicuous persons who have consistently turned up for political events and been interviewed by the press on a number of occasions.
Blending into the organic crowd, this gang of hired crowd is almost impossible to identify with their theatrics often confused for genuine love for the leader and Ruto’s tour was no exception.
While the president enjoys support from Mount Kenya, the confirmation by those who were paid to attend the events in an elaborate scheme in which money was a key motivator makes it impossible to tell what percentage of the crowd was genuine.