WHY POLITICAL PR IS GOOD FOR ODINGA'S CAMPAIGN

Miguna Miguna flees from an irate mob in Mombasa County on Sunday

When you see a grown man sprinting away on national TV, a blood thirsty mob hot on his heels, you are obliged to feel sorry for the man at his moment of desperation.

Such were the woes of PM’s former aide turned nemesis Miguna Miguna as he began a countrywide campaign for his controversial book Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya which focuses on Raila Odinga’s alleged misdeeds in the era of the coalition government.

The campaign which is to cover 47 counties began on a negative tempo in Kisumu and Mombasa Counties when Miguna was attacked by an irate mob, comprising mainly of youths.

The youths, baying for his blood, surrounded the building that hosted Miguna and demanded that the police hand over the traitor so he could face the consequences of his actions. Were it not for the always effective police officers who equally experienced the brunt of the murderous mob, Miguna would have lost more than just his shoe, his glasses and Muslim cap.

Kenyans need no genius to decipher that the vengeful youths are acting to retaliate the damage done on Mr. Raila by Miguna’s book.

As a popular presidential candidate, Mr. Raila should therefore come out strongly and publicly condemn the series of attacks on his former ally. Not only is it a sign of his peaceful nature (peace is paramount as Kenya approaches the next General Elections) but it is also good PR for him.

Positive PR, especially towards your target audience, is always good for business. PR can transform people’s attitudes from hostile to favourable and can thus garner Mr. Raila a sizable amount of supporters from the electorate especially the undecided ones.

While others may argue that what is happening to Miguna is pure Karma because the PM is not inciting anyone, Mr. Raila should work towards neutralizing the effects of this malicious Karma.

Publicly condemning these attacks would depict him as a sympathetic leader who bears no grudges against those who do him wrong even if they are from his own backyard.

Kenya has more than 10 candidates eyeing the top seat; with most of them marred by credibility issues it would help Mr. Raila if he were to show Kenyans his ability to forgive. Not only is it noble, it is also human.

Don’t we all want a President who can prove to us that amid all that political vanity and endless debacle is a human side after all? It is time for Mr. Raila to ‘pull back the rowdy crowd.’