Nairobi News

Professor George Luchiri Wajackoyah, a 2022 presidential candidate in the General Election, has recently been making news after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua questioned his campaigns to have marijuana legalized in Kenya.

As late as March 27, 2024, DP Gachagua said he was wary of Wajackoyah’s marijuana stance on youth smoking marijuana considering the health and mental issues being reported among those who use it. DP Gachagua called on Wajackoyah to educate him on the strand of marijuana he wanted legalized so that he could be enlightened further on why he is campaigning for its legalization.

As these conversations continued in the public space, Professor Wajackoyah then took to social media days later on April 3, 2024, to re-share his presidential campaign manifesto with had the calls for legalization of marijuana and several other novel campaign points.

On this Throwback Thursday, Nairobi News revisits the odd campaign points Wajackoyah lobbied for and managed to come in third in the presidential election after President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Prof Wajackoyah, should he have won the election, intended on:

1. Legalizing marijuana, popularly known as bhang in Kenya. Though used and abused across the country, it remains an outlawed substance to date.
2. Having all corrupt people hung in public to curb the runaway corruption in the country. “As Kenyans we need to protect our resources and my administration will not spare anyone in that pursuit. Even corrupt Judges will not be spared by my administration in the fight against corruption,” said Wajackoyah in part during a campaign run in Kirinyaga. Today, the country continues to be plagued by rampant corruption in the Kenya Kwanza government ranging from financial misappropriation to nepotism and tribalism in parastatals.
3. Having dog meat exported at Sh 2,400 a kilogram.
4. Introducing snake farming in Kenya for the purpose of extracting its venom to create antidotes for snake bites and other medical products. In his estimation, a gram of venom retailed at $120 (Sh 15,600 at today’s exchange rate). He termed the snake farming industry a multibillion business venture that is yet to be explored in Kenya.
5. Shutting down the Standard Gauge Railway and having the country build its own with its own money. Currently, SGR is heavily indebted to China and the monies are still being paid back in the billions.
6. Introducing four-day work weeks by having Friday to Sunday as off days, and for employees to be paid after every two weeks. This ideal can be likened to what happens in the United States of America where Wajackoyah resided before jaunting into Kenya’s politics circa 2022.
7. Moving Kenya’s capital city to Isiolo- away from Nairobi- as a measure of brining the capital city closer to Somali community because, in his opinion, they are the most oppressed in Kenya.
8. Creating eight new states and each to have a federal government- again, similar to how the American government is run.

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