When running for office, politicians can make pretty outlandish promises to voters in the hopes of getting elected. A third candidate has joined the race for Kenya’s presidential race and was running on a campaign of marijuana and hyena testicles to help solve the country’s economic problems.
The election held on August 9, 2022, showed a pretty tight race between veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga and deputy president William Ruto. But reggae aficionado George Wajackoyah did emerge as a wildcard candidate, who has promised to erase the country’s debt with his “ganja solution.”
This news attracted many young voters who were tired of the conventional norms associated with politicians who have yet to tackle corruption, inflation, and unemployment successfully. Despite polling around 0.4% of the votes, Wajackoyah was able to take a handful of votes from both candidates.
Throughout his campaign, Wajackoyah announced his solution to wipe out Kenya’s near $70 billion debt was to establish a medical cannabis industry and export animal parts to China, where apparently hyena testicles are considered a delicacy.
“I’ve created a new tribe, known as the ganja tribe. These (politicians), they have helicopters, they have money, they have painted cars. I don’t even have a single poster,” Wajackoyah said.
The well-known figure on Nairobi’s club scene had a dream of smoking marijuana in the president’s office. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until at least the next election.