Kiambu Governor William Kabogo interacts freely with Kiambu residents at a local food kiosk on Tuesday June 27. This is one of the new tactics Kabogo has embraced to endear himself to Kiambu voters. [Photo: facebook.com]
"A new broom sweeps clean," an old adage goes and another claims that "Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read."
So, which is the best way to go, old or new?
This is perhaps the precarious situation a section of Kiambu County voters find themselves in. Trying to decide between the old and the new. That is, who do they go for between the old William Kabogo who has been in Kiambu politics for years or for his fierce rival and the new entrant to Kiambu politics, Ferdinand Waititu.
While Kabogo may have been humiliated by Waititu during the April Jubilee nominations, he seems to have decided to make 'lemonade from the lemons' Kiambu voters handed him. And his change of campaign tacts to appeal to voters is perhaps the single most visible thing to support this argument.
First, Kabogo, has launched a door-to-door campaign in a bid to win popular support for a second term. Nowadays he rarely call for public rallies as was the case before nominations. He seeks to talk to individual voters personally to convince them why he deserves a second term.
He is also moving around the county without his bodyguards or motorcade unlike before. With bodyguards absent and the bulletproof cars he was using during nomination campaigns also absent, many have started to see him with a different eye. And who knows whether this change of perception will make some voters reconsider their options come August 8.
Another thing worth noting is Kabogo's efforts to appear 'ordinary' and to rhyme with common 'mwananchi'. You will nowadays find Kabogo eating githeri in local 'vibandas' while enjoying a hearty chat with local residents. He is also opting to ride on his motorcycle or travel by public means while traversing the county to convince electorates to re-elect him.
Mr 'Moneybag', as some call him, is also branding him as a potential next Kikuyu political kingpin after President Uhuru Kenyatta retires in 2022. This has drawn him admiration beyond Kiambu politics which can only play in his favour in his re-election bid.
However, it remains to be seen on August 8 how well his new tacts will work for him.