Blame yourself if political propaganda sticks

There is a raunchy video circulating online purportedly involving a known politician. A friend of mine insists it is a fake, but why do so many believe it is real?

To attempt to explain why political propaganda sticks in some instances but backfires in others, let’s examine two other instances.

In the lead-up to the 1992 General Election, JJ Kamotho was Kanu secretary-general and a powerful minister in Moi’s government.

Kamotho hailed from Kangema constituency in Murang’a County. He lost the election and blamed the Ford Asili party wave that swept Kanu aside in Central. However, his party nominated him back to Parliament. 

Between 1992 and 1997, he deployed an elaborate strategy to win the 1997 General Election. He would use his connections in government to spur development in his constituency. Many schools were built.

He thus started worming his way into people’s hearts. To make sure he did not lose, he used his connections to split Kangema into two. That is how Mathioya constituency was born. He looked unbeatable under these circumstances. In any event, he was facing Maina Njakwe, a man with no name recognition and from the location with the lowest population. 

But on the eve of elections, propaganda arose that Kamotho had burnt Maina’s vehicle and almost killed its occupants. Within hours, the political mood in Mathioya had changed and Kamotho lost. 

The second case that illustrates the potency of political propaganda was in the Kiambu gubernatorial race of 2017, pitting William Kabogo against Ferdinand Baba Yao Waititu. It was held almost universally that Kabogo had delivered. He had revamped the health sector, automated land registries as well as building approvals. 

However, one day to the Jubilee Party nominations, rumours spread that Kabogo had abused the electorate. He lost massively but, thankfully, the Jubilee nominations were cancelled and a repeat slated for the following Tuesday. During the weekend prior to the repeat exercise, Kabogo went on a frantic media campaign in a bid to reverse the tide. However, he was unsuccessful. 

So, why did these two people lose? Both had unwittingly fallen victim to negative political propaganda. Kamotho had previously been embroiled in violent altercations with his former political nemesis Michuki.

He was, therefore, deemed a violent person. His opponents built on this to stage-manage an alleged violent altercation. It is rumoured that Njakwe sprinkled chicken blood on some fake victims and caused his own vehicle to be burnt. And it worked because his opponent had built a reputation of violence.

The same case applied in Kiambu. Kabogo’s opponents merely took advantage of a real or imagined reputation to spread misinformation. 

There is an academic explanation of this phenomenon in the theory of “low information rationality”.

Relevant information

It argues that people are information consumers with limited benefits and time to consume all relevant information on any subject. Therefore, to make sense of any social phenomenon, including choosing leaders in an election, due to the limited time available to consume all relevant information and make a sound choice, people use shortcuts to understand quicker.

It, therefore, does not make sense to an average individual to develop an in-depth understanding of any subject. For example, in an ideal situation, when one falls sick, he or she should study medicine to help himself or herself. But most people have no time to study medicine and therefore seek the services of a person who had the time and resources to understand the subject – a doctor.

In other words, humans are cognitive misers who tend to minimise cognitive costs. 

The same logic applies in politics. People have no time to read manifestos or understand their leaders better. So, they use shortcuts; they ask friends or rely on mass media cues.

Political propaganda sticks because people have neither the time to verify facts nor do they see any benefits in doing so. They depend on trusted persons (such as church elders or family) to make sense of leaders. And where these intermediaries have a negative view of a leader, the people will form a similar judgement, and propaganda will spread and stick. 

So, how does a leader guard against conditions that allow political propaganda to germinate? The answer lies in introspection and self-criticism. Most politicians view themselves as demigods who cannot err. Only others can. Their attitude reminds one of the bible story in Luke 18: 10, where Jesus told a story about two men who went to the temple to pray.

One was a tax collector and the other a Pharisee. The Pharisee stood up and said to himself, “God, I thank you that I am not like the other men – extortionists, unjust, adulterers or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” The tax collector, standing afar and unable to face heaven in shame but beating his breasts, prayed as follows, “God be merciful to me, I am a sinner.”

Jesus said the tax collector got more blessings for being humble, unlike the other guy who exalted himself. 

Therefore, good leaders must not possess “the- know -it -all and do-no-evil attitude” of the tax collector. Getting feedback from the electorate is one of the best self-improvement mechanisms. 

The bottom line is that no one is perfect. Leaders should be on a mission of constant self-improvement. Being rational and listening very attentively to criticism is wise.

In the case of the politician in the raunchy video, avoiding sharing online videos depicting a certain reputation might help. Otherwise, the politician’s rivals will continue making fake videos and we shall all believe they are real. 

Dr Kang’ata is the Governor of Murang’a County.