Raila Odinga campaigns in Kiambu last month where massive crowd welcomed him. This Kiambu crowd may not translate into votes. [Photo: capitalfm.co.ke]Recently when Nasa flag bearer Raila Odinga made a campaign tour to Kiambu County, many were surprised that the opposition leader was able to pull a massive crowd in President Uhuru Kenyatta's home turf and stronghold.Some days later President Uhuru Kenyatta pulled a surprise too when huge crowds welcomed and cheered him in Kisumu County, a Raila's stronghold.One is therefore left wondering why these massive crowds don't translate into votes for the candidate who shows up in his rival's stronghold?The answer is simple. These are crowds for hire. Some of these fellows who are 'loyal' rally attendants are harvesting big especially now that the campaigns have entered the homestretch.They are paid to appear at a Jubilee Party presidential rally at Kamukunji, a NASA presidential rally say in Kasarani, then jump on the back of a pick-up truck for an ODM parliamentary candidate, go and root for an independent, and finish the day at a Jubilee Party woman representative meet-the-people tour.The following day they will do two rival senators, one in the morning, the second in the afternoon. Then towards the evening, they will spend say two hours waving tree leaves for about six members of county assembly (MCA) aspirants whether Jubilee, NASA, independent or whatever.These rally attendees are not dumb or idle as some like to portray them. Where do you think they get their meals at the end of the day and in rallies politicians don't cook? These are people who are out to make a kill by just attending rallies.They carry their vuvuzelas to cheer politicians knowing that these are the people who oil their wheels at the end of the day. They know promises politicians make are rarely kept and therefore, there is no contract between them and the politician for whom they attend their rallies. This means then you don’t have to be a member of his party, or politically loyal to him, to show up at his rally. What really matters is the crowd rent fee.Politicians, on the other hand, are more than willing and desperate to pay for huge crowd size which creates a very important narrative for them. It says that you are popular. It earns you a space on the front page of newspapers and to be the lead item on TV news. A politician who is 'popular' is likely to win. If he is likely to win, he attracts financiers who oil his campaign wheels of course with hopes for a good return after the politician's victory.So, next time before you condemn rally attendees as idle, jobless blah blah...think seriously about this.

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