meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Documentary Podcast

Kenya's election hustle

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kenyan politicians are spending millions of dollars on campaigns to win lucrative political office in August's crucial elections. With 75 percent of Kenyans under the age of 35, securing the youth vote will be key. But amid a youth unemployment crisis, many have grown disillusioned about the chance for real change. Dickens Olewe travels to Nairobi to meet the young Kenyans who instead see the election campaign as a new business opportunity, a new "hustle" to extract cash from competing candidates. Photo: Supporters gather at Kenyan election rally. (AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's a sunny morning in Nairobi and a mini bus with loudspeakers trapped through the

0:11.0

roof, bombs its way down a dusty street, lined with stalls selling fruits and vegetables.

0:17.3

From inside the van and organiser hands out carp's and tichels to youths running alongside

0:22.2

while an MC shouts out political slogans telling people of a campaign rally later in the

0:27.4

day.

0:28.4

It's election time in Kenya.

0:31.2

I am Dickens O'Lewy and this is assignment from the BBC World Service.

0:36.7

We're just driving behind a campaign vehicle which has young men hanging all around it and

0:44.8

they're all dressed in visible party colours and they're all hyping up the crowd around

0:53.0

them.

0:54.0

We are so excited about the election.

0:55.6

You're very excited.

0:57.4

You want to lead us to take your vanids.

1:01.7

But there's another reason for excitement here.

1:04.5

Money.

1:05.6

Many of the youths who have gathered around the minibus have come here because they will

1:09.3

get paid, paid to hand out tichels and carp's to promote the candidate and to attend the

1:14.7

rally.

1:15.7

John, not his real name, is a campaign organiser in charge of rallying the youth in this area.

1:21.3

It's about money because you see you cannot bring an activity and involve the youth.

1:26.9

Yet you say that it's not funded because they usually associate politics with money.

1:32.6

So it's some, thus they had part of it but you need to just involve them for a little

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.