Fresh questions are emerging about the nature of the massive crowds that turned out to receive President William Ruto during his recent tour of the Gusii region, after reports revealed that politicians in the area had been actively distributing cash to members of the public in the days leading up to and during the visit.
According to reports, local Gusii leaders were openly urging residents to line up and receive what is locally referred to as “goserwa”, a Gusii term for cash handouts either before or after the rallies organized around the President’s tour. The trend reportedly intensified significantly over the past week as the President’s visit drew closer.
The revelations raise uncomfortable but important questions about the authenticity of the crowds and the enthusiasm on display during the tour.
When people are financially incentivised to attend a political rally, it becomes difficult to distinguish genuine political support from paid attendance, a distinction that carries enormous significance as the country moves toward the 2027 general election.
The practice of vote buying and crowd purchasing is not new in Kenyan politics, but the open and systematic nature of the reported cash distribution in Gusii has drawn renewed attention to a problem that undermines the integrity of political gatherings and distorts the true picture of a leader’s popularity on the ground.
For a President already facing a fierce public backlash over fuel prices, the G2G scandal and widespread disillusionment among former supporters, the optics of needing to pay for crowds in a region he is courting ahead of 2027 are far from flattering.
