Governance expert and former Nairobi town clerk Philip Kisia has come out to give reasons why Kithure Kindiki is wrongly placed as deputy president.

While speaking during an interview on a local channel on Friday, September 19, 2020, Kisia acknowledged Kindiki’s intellect; he described him as a good man and a seasoned law professor.

However, Kisia believes the soft-spoken law professor is wrongly placed since his office demands a person who speaks with authority, conviction, courage, and a strong convincing power that makes his message be accepted by people, something which, according to Kisia Kindiki, is lacking.

“You know, Kindiki is a good man, a professor of law, but I think he is in the wrong job. First of all, he does not have the whump; he doesn’t have the presence. He can’t convince anybody. Even if he is sent as a messenger with a message, nobody believes him or what he talks about. Everything about Kindiki betrays him.”

According to Kisia, Kindiki would have been better off remaining in the classroom tutoring law as he used to do before than occupying such a high-profile office.

“He would be better placed being in a classroom somewhere and teaching law than trying to do what he is doing; his office needs a bit of courage and seriousness so that when you talk, you talk with authority, but he lacks that authority. He doesn’t speak with authority, and he doesn’t act with authority; he is just there.”

Crowd management

He went on to dig deep, saying that Kindiki can’t pull organic crowds, accusing him of using incentives to lure people to attend his rallies.

According to Kisia’s observation, since Kindiki assumed the Karen office, he has been engaging Kenyans in a controlled setup, speaking to crowds which are managed under one roof, terming it as ‘tent politicking’. He cannot draw large crowds by the roadside or in the villages like other politicians do.

“In fact, if you tell me he traverses Kenya, which Kenya? The man, when he is in Nairobi, is in Karen in a tent; when he goes to Western or wherever, he is in a tent where a crowd is controlled. They are paid Ksh500 to come in to support to sing praise; it’s a paid crowd,” he added.

“Have you seen Kindiki going to Mashinani? He knows he can’t; people will chase him. They will tell him, ‘Please, you are dealing with the wrong men. If you are the messenger, go back with the message.’ If you are telling me he is transversing, where is he transversing? He is doing so in tents.”

According to Kisia, Kindiki lacks public appeal and can’t be compared to his predecessor, Rigathi Gachagu, who has managed to endear himself to the people due to his grand mobilising skills.