Interplay of campaign spending and its impact on inflation

Ronald Reagan, the 40th US President said: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”

Politics is therefore a trade of money, loyalty and ideas.

Money has a cardinal role in politics. It is expected that we’ll see a campaign spending of about Sh60 billion in this election. This is excluding what the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the security agencies will spend - another 40.9 billion.

Additionally, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will have spent another Sh20 billion on civic education, monitoring and research among others.

In total, the 2022 election will see spending of over 120 billion, one of the highest globally.

Without a doubt, running a campaign is expensive.

One must hire staff, pay for the nomination fees with the party and commission, fuel vehicles, pay for marketing, buy equipment, among other expenses.

Behind the scenes, however, there is horse-trading. Historically, this took the form of barter trade.

But as time went by, and politics got more commercial, money exchanged hands heavily. Politicians are bought to throw their weight behind choice candidates - hence Reagan’s assertions.

Locally, and in many parts of Africa, the bigger problem is voter bribery. In recognising that politicians are selfish, and are in the game of trading, often using their support base as bargaining chips, voters have responded differently.

In the West, they’ve observed voter apathy as voters stayed away from the voting booths.

In Africa, however, due to the poverty and level of needs, voters now demand bribes to vote in a certain way. The bribe motivates the voter to participate in the exercise and support one side - in line with the candidates’ interests.

Perhaps the biggest problem of voter bribery, and the consequential big spending, is inflation. Imagine over Sh60 billion being given out as handouts, without a service rendered or any form of economic production.

This leads to too much money chasing very few goods, hence inflation. This further leads to high-interest rates and a high cost of living.

Attempts by the IEBC to contain this madness by law were met with opposition from parliament.

The effect of voter bribery is that you get selfish and incapable leaders. Leaders then assume the bribes given were an investment and work hard to recoup their investment through shady deals.

The interest of the public is thrown out. In the process, political engagement has become the reserve of the ultra-wealthy.

Good leaders in the community are unable to offer leadership and are voted on account of their work.

The improper use of campaign money is the number cause of electoral violence today. Somehow, through the new constitutional order and the handshake, we’ve witnessed few cases of electoral violence in this election.

The few cases witnessed, are not fueled by tribal hatred, but by bitterness at not accessing politicians’ handouts. There has been violence between supporters when the money was not divided equally, against politicians when the money was not enough, and against innocent road users when the money did not get to the supporters.

In many instances, women and children are the biggest casualties.

This approach is not favourable to the nation nor sustainable.

In a certain constituency around Mount Kenya, the public rejected handouts from a politician. It was a proud moment. The voter needs to know that the Sh500 they’ve received is a bribe to make them poor for the next five years while the politician gets wealthy.

The writer is the CEO of Elim Capital Ltd. [email protected]