POLIPRENEUR; THE NEW HUSTLE IN TOWN.

By definition, an entrepreneur is a person who sees opportunity to do business and exploits it for profit.

In this day and age, there are as many ways to making money as there are stars in the sky. From agriculture (agripreneur) to technology (techpreneur) to sports betting and lotteries, becoming a millionaire in Kenya is easier now than it was the previous century.

Over the past few years, a new hustle has emerged in the republic-politics. This doesn’t surprise considering that our officials are the second highest paid in the world, just below Nigeria.

So lucrative has politics become that a few MPs, having noted the ‘greener pastures’ in county government, are considering exiting the national assembly and entering the county assembly as MCAs. A good number of Senators have also expressed their desire to join the more lucrative gubernatorial seat.

Well known business tycoons have also identified the cash cow that is politics and like the entrepreneurs they are, they have decided to give this venture a try. Though not confirmed, it is alleged that these tycoons are responsible for the various impeachment attempts we have witnessed.

As with any business, you have to invest big in order to win big. And to invest they will. It is a well-known fact that aspirants of the various elective seats spend millions and even billions to woo voters to their camp.

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This very reason has the IEBC concerned. You see, there are limits to how much money a candidate can spend on his/her campaign depending on the seat he/she is vying for. The presidency is capped at 5.2b, the gubernatorial at 0.4b, MP at 33.4m and MCA at 4m.

However, we all know that in our campaigns the aspirants hold nothing back! Our elections have become a matter of how many voters one can buy.

This should not be the case. Politics should not be an avenue to make more money. Rather, it should be about service delivery to the mwananchis.

Perhaps reducing the salary of these officials will discourage these polipreneurs from vying in the first place.