Politics is all about mass recognition. Every politician does their very best to catch as much attention as possible among the voters. Besides philanthropy, politicians employ tactics such as endorsements by religious groups, community leaders and other notable groups.

But all these are not complete without proper personal branding. On this, politicians are either born to a name, such as the Kenyatta’s, Mois, Kihikas or Nyagas, names grown through political and leadership supremacy or an outstanding business person, clergyman or any other notable activity that makes a person and their family widely known in a certain region. For others who do not enjoy this, lies the task of establishing a brand that makes them easy to recognise amongst the voters and constituents.

An excellent political brand or identity needs to be catchy, recognisable, unique and acceptable. The logical explanation for the importance of a unique political identity is the fact that people can share names, and so can political aspirants in a single ballot paper. For this reason, the ease with which voters can differentiate between candidates comes really handy in ensuring voters do not unknowingly “stray” their vote to the unintended candidate. Basically, for a politician, identity autonomy should be secured by all means. This explains the mad rush by our legislators to adopt other names other than their birth names. Some have done it with plausible success while others flopped badly.

Paul Kimani Wamatangi, the current Kiambu County senator and the gubernatorial aspirant is one politician who successfully adopted the name Wamatangi from the philanthropic idea of distributing water tanks to organised women groups and individuals.  Mwangi wa Iria is another classic example of a successful name adoption. He got the name “Wa Iria” meaning “one of milk” owing to his tenure as the Managing Director of New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC). Flamboyant and flashy politician, former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Kioko Sonko gained his name “Sonko” through self-proclamation backed with an unreserved display of money and opulence.

In Kakamega, and anywhere else that Boni Khalwale is known in Kenya, the name “bullfighter” is synonymous with the Western Kenya politician. This is because of his role in organising the famous bullfighting contest.

Everything with registered success has its own share of failures. Ferdinand Waititu, former Kiambu Governor tried adopting the theatre name, “babayao”  but that failed. Besides lacking a catchy concept to back the name, Waititu’s stage name was clouded by another, “Clifford”, that emanated from his Punjab University situation. Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho tried to christen himself “Sultan” but that has also failed because only a few people remember to call him that online.

William Ruto was born William Kipchirchir Ruto on 21 December 1966 in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County. After apparently wrestling the control of the Kalenjin community from Late former President Moi, it appears Ruto needed a name to cement his new role as the leader of the Kalenjins. It is for this reason that he adopted the name Samoei, to tap into the great Koitalel Arap Samoei lineage which enjoys great respect and fear among the Kalenjins. While Ruto cannot prove his blood links to the great leader Samoei, he tapped into the name for its influence in his ethnic backyard. This worked because widely, people will assume that he is a descendant of the great Kalenjin leader.

While adopting catchy and impressive names for political purposes is a good thing, the manner of doing it speaks to the character of a person.

A name that describes a person’s character or is derived from their activities in the community is a genuine name that has been duly earned. A family name, on the other hand, speaks to lineage identity and if used inappropriately it amounts to identity theft.