Kenyan presidential candidate George Wajackoyah speaks during an election campaign rally in Gatundu, Kenya, August 3, 2022.Kenyan presidential candidate George Wajackoyah speaks during an election campaign rally in Gatundu, Kenya, August 3, 2022.
Wajackoyah’s bid for the presidency has caught the imagination of younger voters. The grave-digger-turned-adjunct-law-professor is trailing a distant third in the polls at around 2% but he could tip the balance if he endorses one candidate, or takes enough votes from another. The Kenyan media’s infatuation with colouful Wajackoyah, also a well-known figure from Nairobi’s club scene, has prompted speculation that he is backed by a bigger campaign to try to peel away some of the youth vote – a prospect he airily dismisses.
He checked his phone to recall the other points on his manifesto, which veer from federalising government and renegotiating the country’s debts with China, to hanging the corrupt and throwing out Chinese nationals.By his latest count, Wajackoyah said he has picked up 14 law degrees and certificates from England, where fled as a refugee, the United States, where he met his wife, and back in Kenya where he runs a law firm specialising in migration.