I am sure every Kenyan who reads newspapers, listens to radio or watches television has seen something about a campaign by the Orange Democratic Party called ‘ODM Mashinani’.
I have been involved in never-ending discussions about whether ODM Mashinani is just another campaign slogan so I would like to use this space to explain why the initiative is a distinctive campaign effort never seen before, and which no other party except ODM can pull off.
So, what is ODM Mashinani? First, ODM Mashinani directly translates to ‘ODM at the Grassroots’. This is the party activating itself at the local level and calling it’s ‘troops’ to ‘form up’ for the battle ahead.
Many know that ODM is currently the only party in Kenya that has a structure of elected officials that goes all the way from national to ward level.
However, what many might not know is that in addition to this mainstream structure ODM is again the only party with similar structures for women and youth.
The Orange Young Democrats League and the Orange Women Democrats League are in essence two complete ‘parties’ running from national to ward level, with elected officials at each level, and each headed by a national chairman.
At local level, each of the three sections of the party – mainstream and the two leagues – have 20 elected officials. Considering that the average county has seven constituencies, ODM therefore has at least 400 elected officials based in each county.
The troops ODM is calling out are these officials whom the party is telling to step up to the plate and explain the policies and aspirations of the party to their local neighbourhoods and every nook and cranny of their villages.
Second, ODM Mashinani is the party showing that when it says it’s the only national one in Kenya today, it actually means it. Through ODM Mashinani the party wants to show Kenyans that it is the only political organisation in the country with enough presence in each county to pull off 47 events simultaneously and successfully.
To prove this point two weekends ago when the party launched this campaign it held the same event in each and every one of the 47 counties at the same time!
The party called upon its ministers, MPs, aspirants for the various political offices at all levels, as well as ODM national, local and league officials and coordinators, to meet up at the respective county offices and launch the campaign.
These party officials then invited their friends, families and supporters, and in 47 locations across the country ODM held activities where people came to join the party, verify their membership status and learn about the need to register as a voter.
They also used the opportunity to rally eachother to register as voters in preparation for the next general election in three months. The events were successful in literally every county.
ODM Mashinani activities happen every weekend since then in each county simultaneously. The reason I keep repeating the word ‘simultaneously’ is for emphasis because I am aware that every party can hold an event in every county in Kenya.
However no other party so far has shown the capacity to hold an event in each county at the same time, except ODM. Every weekend it continues to project this political might and until some other party can do the same, ODM can justifiably exclusively own the tag ‘Kenya’s only national party’.
Third, ODM Mashinani is ODM’s way of explaining that it understands what ‘devolution’ means. ODM has devolved its campaigns to counties on the basis that all politics is local.
Each county’s leadership has then taken responsibility of building the party in their county as well as mobilising support for the party’s aspirants at each level below in the constituencies, wards and villages.
Essentially this means that ODM now has 47 campaigns running simultaneously, competing with its rival parties in each county, and selling presidential aspirant Raila Odinga's policies and the issues he stands for county by county.
Fourth, ODM Mashinani is proof that Prime Minister Raila Odinga is the only presidential aspirant able to draw supporters from across the country, in every county.
Unlike some of his competitors who have hidden their disdain for some parts of Kenya (or what does G7 mean?), the mashinani campaign shows that every county matters to ODM.
Finally and on a personal basis I find this campaign quite exciting. It is the first time we are seeing a party run campaigns without the presence of its presidential candidate.
My challenge is to the other parties who claim they are national to show it, rather than just say it. In the meanwhile they should not wonder why ODM is the most popular party in Kenya.
The writer is the head of Change Associates.
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