Tone-deaf! Kenyan politicians' senseless habit of making everything about themselves

Their most cringeworthy moments of blatant self-advertising happen mostly during sombre moments as families - or the nation - are undergoing a particularly painful season of grief and loss, and with everyone shut off from the ugliness of political gimmickry.

Nevertheless, the average Kenyan politician will seize the moment and, rather tastelessly, find a not-so-creative way of flagrantly plastering their face onto their public messaging, refusing to sit back and let the nation focus on what really matters - the issue at hand.

A graceless lot with an insatiable appetite for cameras and fleeting headlines, Kenyan politicians will ensure that the masses do not mistake the origin of the goodies they so often scatter to the public, and, even when mourning their own constituents, it has always been a matter of cheap optics and needless political scorecards.

While mourning the six members of one family who died in a grisly road accident in Gatanga, area Member of Parliament Edward Muriu shared a condolence poster online while also attaching a short consolation message to the bereaved.

His poster was, however, quickly blasted by Kenyans as he had used his own smiling photo alongside the message, with many wondering what his smiling photo had to do with such a massive loss and grief in the Gatanga homestead.

Media personality Ciru Muriuki wrote, "The kind of narcissism in Kenyan politics needs to be studied. Because why is your smiling mug in a condolence message? Like are you okay?"

Yet another dismayed Kenyan opined, "What in the narcissistic psychopathy is this? He is literally smiling, saying the "Gatanga 6" like it's a disco band! This kind of behavior is disturbing. How do you post a condolence message for six people and still make it about yourself? Kenyan politicians!"

As the nation mourned the loss of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who died while receiving treatment in India, several politicians made a beeline to offer their condolences to the Odinga family matriarch and, while at it, still dragged along their barefaced self-importance - their names, faces, political inclinations and ambitions featured prominently even in rooms where people were clearly mourning and teary-eyed.

At Kang'o ka Jaramogi, where many politicians trooped to pay homage to Raila and deliver a bellowing herd of bulls, their politically-charged masochism was painfully evident. 

Without shame or introspection, some Nyanza leaders even emblazoned their names across a bull's belly, as if to make sure that everyone would quickly - and spectacularly - capture their pompous gesture of benevolence. 

Former Interior Cabinet Secretary and presidential hopeful Fred Matiang'i was also trolled widely online after making his visit to Raila's Bondo home an affair that was unmistakably driven by his own messaging, personal branding and imagery.

In a promotional video announcing his journey to Bondo, Matiang'i's team showed a fleet of high-end guzzlers with his own campaign song playing alongside the showy clips.

"You could at least have used one of the many Raila tribute songs that are currently available everywhere. You didn't have to make even this day about yourself!" someone snapped.

At Kang'o ka Jaramogi, Matiang'i's disastrous attempts at self-promotion would continue as he brazenly presented to Ida Odinga a portrait featuring Raila Odinga and himself at a past public gathering.

Exiled lawyer and politician Miguna Miguna wrote: "Barbarian Fred Okeng’o Matiang’i doesn’t even know how to condole with a widow. Presenting his framed image with Raila Odinga to Ida is not just insensitive; it’s primitive."

Many also found the gift not only cheap in value, but also in optics.

Someone said, "Very useless gift there. Why gift a picture of yourself to a grieving widow? Never seen a useless gift as this one. Do you expect the family to hang it in their home? You couldn't afford a bull like every other politician worth your salt?"

Former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu also got into the crosshairs of Kenyans online after sharing a rather bland farewell tribute to Raila Odinga - in the poorly-designed graphic image, Wambugu's full image appears in striking black as Raila's face is knocked at the bottom of the photo, and in faded grey.

"Are you the deceased? Did this message need your image? Also, why is Raila barely visible? You need to fire your graphic designer and enrol for AI classes!" someone wrote to the ex-legislator.

At rural funerals, these politicians routinely donate tents and chairs for the ceremony - but they almost always ensure that the tents are conspicuously draped in their names and faces, seizing every opportunity to remind every grieving soul of the shameless goodness of the donor. 

No matter what the occasion is, the average Kenyan politician still remains deeply rooted in narcissism, as the desire to exhibit grandiosity and entitlement overlaps the need for empathy, modesty and even humanity.

Leon F Seltzer, while writing in the Psychology Today, said: "Despite the steadfast ethical values they profess, politicians can be viewed as "moral relativists" in that what they adamantly deem immoral for others is yet somehow acceptable for themselves."

"Once ensconced in office, they may well feel accountable to no one but themselves—free to play their competitive power games with impunity (and frankly, the public be damned)."

He added, "Beyond such pragmatics, implicitly believing that it's better to receive than give, narcissist-politicians' immense appetite for flattery, praise, and adulation is also abundantly gratified."