One way to fan Railaphobia was to ascribe to him mystic powers. He took Uhuru and Ruto to Hague; he incites teachers to strike etc. Sixth thread – LONG THREAD, YOU CAN DISCARD

Having suffered so much under Moi who used state power to sabotage the whole economy and foster impunity, you would have expected the Kikuyu to all be on the frontline championing democracy and rule of law. So that nobody suffers again state victimization
In the last thread we have seen how Kikuyus ganged up against ICC to ensure Uhuru went scot-free – “Uhuru ni witu,” was the clarion call that we exported to The Hague
Just then Kikuyu now became the biggest enemy of democracy. Human rights activists filed a case in court to have Uhuru and Ruto barred from vying for public office as per chapter 6 of the new constitution. The Kikuyu were openly hostile to the court system. Ni matutigithie...
Having worked so hard to have a new constitution to ensure things that happened to the Kikuyu under Moi never happen again, Kikuyu became the biggest haters to the new constitution. That is was the first backward step for the country – courtesy of the Kikuyu
During Uhuru's first term, those who raised the alarm that things were not going on well were branded Raila sympathizers and home guards. The civil society now acquired the name “evil society”. It was especially bad for the Kikuyu critics who didn’t support Uhuru
David Ndii was especially a thorn in the flesh. He insisted the Euro bond was a scam and SGR was a white elephant. Kikuyus would hear none of it. I recall a Twitter reader from Limuru “disowning” Ndii and telling him nobody like him (Ndii) would come from Limuru.
Increasingly, Kikuyus would realize life was not getting better. That their victory was all “hollow.” But they could not blame it on poor leadership, even when reminded 200bn Euro bond could not be accounted for. They compensated with Railaphobia which intensified under Uhuru
One sure way to fan Railaphobia is to associate him with mystic powers. Such as He took Uhuru to ICC. He was inciting teachers to strike to tarnish the government’s name. He has received money from the US to destabilize Uhuru gvt. If u ask how you are told “wewe hujui Raila”
One day I challenged some friends for specifics on the accusation that Raila got 50bn to sabotage gvt. How did Raila carry the 50bn from US? Where did Obama get the money? How will 50 bn destabilize Kenya gvt? If you ask such questions: “tunajua wewe ni mtu wa Raila”
Kikuyu hated Obama bcos of Raila. They preached how “huo mjaluo” was using Raila to fight Uhuru. The hatred remained until Uhuru visited US and they had a photo session with Obama. In a local bar in Nakuru, I saw people sharing that picture saying “sasa Raila anasikia vibaya.”
The height of Railaphobia was towards 2017 elections. The community that fought Moi so hard to ensure political competition was now wondering where Raila came from and why he gives so much competition to “Uhuru witu”
That’s when the Kikuyu openly wished Raila dead. I once overheard people in a Kiambu pub wondering why Moi never killed Raila. But shockingly few days later, some women, just from a church in Ruaka were concurring among themselves “akoimania na kuragwo”
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More from Daniel Njaga

More from For later read

The common understanding of propaganda is that it is intended to brainwash the masses. Supposedly, people get exposed to the same message repeatedly and over time come to believe in whatever nonsense authoritarians want them to believe /1

And yet authoritarians often broadcast silly, unpersuasive propaganda.

Political scientist Haifeng Huang writes that the purpose of propaganda is not to brainwash people, but to instill fear in them /2


When people are bombarded with propaganda everywhere they look, they are reminded of the strength of the regime.

The vast amount of resources authoritarians spend to display their message in every corner of the public square is a costly demonstration of their power /3

In fact, the overt silliness of authoritarian propaganda is part of the point. Propaganda is designed to be silly so that people can instantly recognize it when they see it


Propaganda is intended to instill fear in people, not brainwash them.

The message is: You might not believe in pro-regime values or attitudes. But we will make sure you are too frightened to do anything about it.

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