By Tom Mboya in Nairobi
Kenyans might just get the chance to freely smoke marijuana without looking at their backs as well as have extended weekends running from Friday to Sunday if Prof. George Wajackoyah gets his dream to be elected president in the August 9 elections.
Wajackoyah wants to effect the appointment of eight Prime Ministers, suspension of the Constitution for six months and implementing a four-day work week, where Kenyans only work from Monday to Thursday.
And as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the body charged with conducting the polls sent a whooping 50 wannabes packing for various offences including the lack of a degree from a credible institution, the former policeman Wajackoyah unleashed impeccable academic credentials beating all the other competitors hands down.
Wajackoyah and his aptly named Roots Party has captured the imagination of Kenyans with his insistence that marijuana (going by various names here like weed and bhang) must be legalised.
Kenya’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act states that: “Any person who has in his possession any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance shall be guilty of an offence.” Marijuana falls under this category and the guilty person is liable to a fine or a jail term of up to 10 years. This can be longer if the guilty party is a peddler of the same drug.
It is this piece of law that Wajackoyah wants turned on its head and make Kenyans lighter on the head after a puff or two.
In January, Wajackoyah stated that apart from the health and feel good benefits that cultivating and consuming marijuana would bring, there were also financial spin-offs.
“We need to create employment opportunities for our people and the growing of marijuana will go a long way in achieving this. The problem is that we have been indoctrinated to view it [bhang] from a negative perspective. If you go to Denmark, they use it for medicinal purposes, “he stated in a press interview.
Wajackoyah condemned leaders opposed to his plans to get Kenyans high adding that he had a farm in Texas, USA, where intends to carry out large scale farming of marijuana.
“Some leaders are opposed to marijuana saying it is bad yet some of them steal public funds and take advantage of the poor people in the society. When other people do something wrong you are the first to point out yet you are also doing the wrong thing. We need to move away from this,” he added.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) recently built a 27 kilometre USD 70 million Expressway connecting Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the east and the Westlands suburb to the west. As part of beautification of the edifice the proprietor has been putting portable flowers on it, which end up drying after a day or two.
While the rest of Kenyans were lamenting over the wastage, Wajackoyah saw an opportunity. “There are flowers planted where you are standing, for beautification purposes. That is a place which can yield regulated bhang. Even the things we have on Nairobi expressway, flowers that have died. Why do we need all that yet people are dying? All that will be bhang,” he said.
And away from the heady matters of legalizing marijuana, Wajackoyah presented an impressive academic CV to IEBC which went ahead to clear him for the race where he will face off with opposition doyen Raila Odinga and the Deputy President William Ruto. Here is the document:
1. Ph.D. at Walden University
2. Studied Post Graduate Diploma in Law at Kenya School of Law
3. Studied Masters in Law of USA at University of Baltimore
4. Studied Masters of Law (LLM) at SOAS University of London
5. Studied Master of philosophy at Walden University
6. Studied Masters of Laws in Law in Development at University of Warwick, UK
7. Studied Bachelor of Laws at Universities of Wolverhampton (UK)
8. Studied Advanced Diplome in French at University of Burundi
9. Studied Diploma in French at Kenya Institute of Administration
10. Studied Economics & Refugee law at World University Service united Kingdom
11. Studied Laws of Kenya at Riara University
12. Studied Postgraduate Diploma at Maastricht University
13. Studied Legal Practice Course LPC at University of Westminster, UK
14. Studied Certificate in Comparative Laws at University of London School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
15. Studied Criminal/Civil Litigation at American Heritage University of Southern California
16. Studied Security & Intelligence Studies at CID Training school
17. Studied Policing and Criminal Investigation at Kenya Police Training College, Kiganjo
If the elections were to be determined solely on the strength of academic papers, then there is no doubt that Wajackoyah,a former policeman who rose to a university professor, would be the next President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces.