By Steven Masiga
President Moi knew the psychology of his people well. He would arrive at every political rally with cars well-loaded with fresh bread and powdered milk. He knew the mindset of most Kenyans, and that is why he faced limited resistance from his political enemies.
Each country has its own political behaviors. In Europe, a candidate trying to woo voters to his side with goodies such as salt or sugar can be arrested by the voters themselves. Meanwhile, in Africa, voters will chase away a candidate who arrives at a political rally empty-handed, considering them a very bad-hearted person with no care for the people and thus unfit to occupy public office.
The psychology of most African voters revolves around food and not services. Those who promise to deliver services after winning an election will lose, while those who promise to bring food and items like salt, sugar, and chapatis will win. That being the case, politicians must carefully balance the boat; otherwise, it sinks many meters deep. As you bait voters with food, you must also have a development agenda focusing on roads, health, education, and other critical sectors.
Politicians cannot merely be elected to feed the population. Other programs, such as education, health, and infrastructural development, are core to spurring economic growth.
Available political data suggests that the only way of winning an election in an African country is by addressing the basic needs of the mwanainchi—such as food, sugar, salt, posho, clothes, and drinks like malwa and waragi. This is especially critical for those aspiring to positions like LCIII chairman, LCV chairman, or Member of Parliament.
Many cunning politicians, to attract the attention and sympathy of gullible voters, choose to arrive in heavy rains, triggering landslides, or even appear with a medical cannula on their hand to create the impression they were on a hospital bed but valued the dead person so much that they had to attend the burial.
In the absence of any other research on what conditions voters to elect someone into public office, I recommend that the mwanainchi’s needs be considered a serious factor for any electoral success. However, we must find a way to ensure citizens vote for candidates based on better parameters, such as being a good debater, a strong policy formulator, or having an education background that can spur national economic development and wellbeing, rather than on petty personal needs.
The National Electoral Commission has the mundane but crucial task of undertaking serious voter sensitization to eliminate this rural mindset.
Due to the failure to meet voters’ petty needs, the country has lost capable leaders, while the wrong people have been elected to office. It is, therefore, a clarion call for every Ugandan to renounce the politics of food and push for politics of national development.
Begging voters are responsible for the “diabetic” conditions of their politicians and should be held to account. Many times, politicians shy away from disseminating serious information to voters out of genuine fear that they will be asked for cash. Many choose to hide or at least wait until they have been paid some emolument. This kills democracy in the country. The culture of holding politicians at ransom for money should stop.
Many Ugandans, after losing their loved ones, now begin by placing radio announcements inviting strangers, such as MPs, LCV chairmen, RDCs, etc., before even mentioning relatives as a footnote. In normal bereavement, relatives of the deceased should be informed first, while “foreigners” or non-relatives should be the last ones invited.
The writer is a national researcher from Mbale.
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