STRATEGIC AND COMPELING

APPROACHES TO WIN OVER

THE
 AUTHORIAL BRIEF
Mr. Nesta Louis Addero, bears an
extensive depth of experience and
knowledge in strategic planning and
policy formulation spanning over 10
years of active and actual practice in
both the public and private sectors.

In his professional tenure, the author

has managed to expose and expand
his expertise with key focus on political
consultancy, policy and strategic
formulations that precisely drive
impact targets and deliverables across
diverse societies.
As a political strategist, Mr. Nesta
Louis has over the years been able to
STRATEGIC AND ACTIONABLE
develop inferential election campaign
strategies and political initiatives that APPROACHES TO WIN OVER
squarely drive target agendas both for
political outfits and individual political
candidates. THE
In particular, Mr. Louis is a formidable
expert in youth affairs and social
impact development conversing on
real life scenarios and driving actual
and actionable solutions. As a recipient
of the Tony Blaire Global Change
Program (TBGC), Mr. Louis is vetted
as a resolute and resilient professional
with notable methodological and technological proficiency.

In this publication, the author delves into providing inferential strategies and compelling
inputs for political parties, Politicians or political networks seeking to tap into the youth
voter bloom in the Republic of Kenya; this precisely provides insights on winning the August
9th, 2022 General Elections.

Nesta Louis Addero

OVERVIEW

Key Facts
In Kenya, youth are defined in the constitution as persons between the ages of 18
and 35 years old.
This demographic is a vital part of Kenyan society, making up roughly 78.3 percent
of Kenya’s population. This segment of the population also falls predominantly in
Living Standard Metrics (LSM) 2-8, which means that they are low on the socio-
economic scale and thus often marginalized. The good news is that the youth
population in Kenya have since the 2017 General Elections, registered to vote at
record numbers ahead of the 2017 election. Today, 46 % of registered voters in
Kenya are 18-29 years old.
Now that youth have come out to register in Kenya, however, they also need to
come out to vote on Election Day to make their voices heard

When the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) launched its
month-long voter drive on October 4th, 2021, it targeted registering at least 6 million
new voters, with a large chunk of this being young voters. However, the numbers
were extremely underwhelming, with only 1,421,710 new registered voters. These
numbers are worrying especially for the youth because historically, the Kenyan youth A key concern is the need to compel more
have not been included in governance. Therefore, it is clear that if this situation is
to change, the youth must ensure they are registered to ensure their voices are youth voters to come out to actually vote
heard..
OVERVIEW

The Numbers

President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 victories

 Kenya now has at least 14.7 million youth aged between 18-35. This accredit that it is the youth vote that was the
accounts for 52% of the adult population, all of whom ought to be enlisted. decisive factor

 Around 80% of Kenya’s population is younger than 35; this makes up 51%
of its 19.6 million registered voters.
THE YOUTH VOTE AND POWER CANNOT BE
 By the close of the IEBC voter registration second phase 2022, an estimated
1.5 million new voters were registered; a significant amount being youth.
IGNORED
THE APPROACH

ATTRACT Creating a Vibrant political interested and

aware network of Youth to set the trend

ENGAGE This Approach utilizes three integral pillars;

1. Attract: Drawing in the youth, creating a sense of democratic ownership and
roleship, building interest and zeal to be part of the voting bloc for change.
2. Engage: Involve the youth in active political and democratic undertakings,
giving avenues for youth to be part of the democratic processes, entrenching political

CONVINCE awareness and interest

3. Convince: Breaking down youth specific manifesto prospects, illustrating/
modelling out clear scenarios of how youth will benefit in voting for a given party/
Presidential candidate, create the promise and agreement
It is imperative to note that for all the three pillars, owing to the target group being
youth, it is important for Digital and technological reversion be made.

Attract Engage Convince

The reason for this is since the youth are intrigued by the digital and technological
bloom and prospects therein.
THE APPROACH
ATTRACT
This is the preliminary pillar, where the initial point of contact (S) is created. The
primary model of this undertaking includes:
• Creating youth voter caucuses at the grassroot level across all the 47
counties.
• Each County must have a County campaign command center/base
• The affiliated electoral nominees of the party at each County level are
to utilize the County Campaign Command Center.
• For instance, Nakuru County:
-A Nakuru County Campaign Command Center
-Women Rep, MPs, Senator, MCAs and Governor candidate Nominees
utilize the Campaign command center to conduct coordinated targeted
campaigns.
Attracting the
Youth
How do you attract the Youth?
• Commission a special volunteer campaign personnel program; It allows for
youth to directly take part in the democratic process, campaign undertakings-
Building a sense of belonging and ownership to the party.
• The special volunteer campaign Network will only accommodate registered
youth voters in the specific respective areas
• A County volunteer campaign unit can bear in excess of 1000+ youth
• Each registered youth will be given deliverables on a daily basis.e.g. at least 5
retweets/online content creation campaigning for the party or candidates in their
respective Counties.
THE APPROACH

Example of a Youth Campaign Command Center

THE APPROACH
Engage
Young people between 18-24 years of age are most likely to be involved in
the electoral process for the first time in their lives. This generation of youth has
grown up in a highly digitized era, therefore, the focus should be on taking
advantage of the technological media as a means to engage and intrigue
them to be vote.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and other popular social
media platforms, could be used to mount digital activation drives to ensure
young people join the bandwagon and vote for a particular political outfit or
candidate.
Engaging the
Youth
The astronomical rise in the use of influencer marketing is a clear indicator that young
people are very receptive to information received from people they deem to be
their peers, and in such a scenario, the leaders can endorse a young person that
the youth can relate to.
The use of influencers and other social media figures, who post high-quality videos,
as well as advanced hashtags that encourage voting trends among the youth, will
go a long way in ensuring that more young people vote according to a certain
influence trend.
A large number of the young people in this demographic attend institutions of
higher learning such as universities and polytechnics. They also participate in
campus activations and tours, which could also be used as an effective mode of
encouraging youth votership.
For this cohort, getting the youth to show up and participate is a simple logical process
through the use of fashion shows, glam sessions, and PlayStation competitions,
among other methods to attract them to the events, as these are activities that the
youth can relate to.
THE APPROACH
Engaging the
Youth
The use of influencers and other social media figures, who post high-quality videos,
as well as advanced hashtags that encourage voter registration among the youth,
will go a long way in ensuring that more young people vote according to on-going
trends or influence. The Use of online and digital media streams must be central in
roping in more youth to vote.
A large number of the young people in this demographic attend institutions of
higher learning such as universities and polytechnics. They also participate in
campus activations and tours, which could also be used as an effective mode of
encouraging youth voter registration. For this cohort, getting the youth to show up
and participate is a simple logical process through the use of fashion shows, glam
sessions, and PlayStation competitions, among other methods to attract them to the
events, as these are activities that the youth can relate to. Once here, they should
be engaged on relevant party or political candidate ideologies to compel them
vote for them.
They could also be sensitized to the obvious impactful threats that arise from
disengaging from their civic duties and be well informed of the difference their
participation could make. This strategy can also be extended to roadshows and
community activities in both formal and informal settlements with the use of popular
artists and other social influencers to attract the young people in this cohort who do
not attend institutions of higher learning.
For young people between 25-29 years of age, the use of youth forums would prove
an effective method in getting them to voter for particular candidates or party
outfits. The majority of young people in these demographics are in the early stages
of their careers or have recently begun to engage in various economic activities
to support themselves. These forums could address the everyday challenges of the
young people in their jobs or other aspects of their lives. During these forums, young
people will be encouraged to vote for various leaders or party outfits to ensure
that the leaders chosen in the upcoming general elections are aware of the issues
prevailing and will formulate policies to address them.
They could also be sensitized to the obvious impactful threats that arise from
disengaging from their civic duties and be well informed of the difference their
participation could make. This strategy can also be extended to roadshows and
community activities in both formal and informal settlements with the use of popular
artists and other social influencers to attract the young people in this cohort who do
not attend institutions of higher learning.
For young people between 25-29 years of age, the use of youth forums would prove
an effective method in getting them to voter for particular candidates or party
outfits. The majority of young people in these demographics are in the early stages
of their careers or have recently begun to engage in various economic activities
to support themselves. These forums could address the everyday challenges of the
young people in their jobs or other aspects of their lives. During these forums, young
people will be encouraged to vote for various leaders or party outfits to ensure
that the leaders chosen in the upcoming general elections are aware of the issues
prevailing and will formulate policies to address them.
The use of sporting activities such as local football matches and community-centered
activities could also prove a key strategy in encouraging young people to vote in
a targeted manner. Young people are typically drawn to these gatherings, and it is
here that they can be compelled and sensitized to vote within target directions. This
information could be passed on through leaflets and flyers to be distributed at the
events or through meetings held after the events where political party educators
encourage the young people to voter.
The use of local vernacular radio stations would be a very effective strategy to
encourage votership among youth aged between 30-35 years. These stations
could have some segments during their shows to encourage their listeners to vote
as advertised by a political party outfit or candidate (s). The information could
specify where voting stations can be found in the localities as well as indicate the
documents needed when one is going to register as a voter. The segments could
also be interactive where listeners are allowed to air their views on the electoral
process, thus allowing the youth to take ownership in the process and therefore
decrease voter apathy in this demographic.
THE APPROACH

Inferential Youth Engagement

Strategies

Celebrity Youth Influencership

Online and Digital Streams

Events & Extravaganzas

Special Volunteer Network Celebrities are regarded as direct influence sources among the Youth. From fashion
trends to opinions and even political stands, Celebrities bear the power to persuade
and influence youth voters towards a certain alignment.

As such, it would be imperative to consider having endorsed celebrity influencership

Active Engagement among Key music, acting, sports etc celebrities that bear a significant followership
among the youth
THE APPROACH Inferential Youth Engagement Strategies

Social Media is a buzzing area for the youth of today. An average youth Referred to as the Voter Youth Balloon, the special volunteer network will encompass
spends at least four to six hours a day on various social media platforms. In youth caucuses all over the nation with direct strategic ground and online campaign
particular, Political advertising on social media has been a game changer for interventions that are youth-driven. It is important to note that the special volunteer
campaigns, candidates, and the public discourse. network acts as a catalysts for voter persuasion and compulsion among youth to
A good example of the success social media bears in active modern political ensure more come out to vote in favor of a particular political outfit or candidate.
campaigns is testament in the run up to President Barrack Obama’s 2008 and
2012 Presidential campaigns.
In this regard, it will be essential to tap into the social media bloom in Kenya
among the youth and strategical align agendas, ads and political informercials
and messaging to target the youth who make up the highest user index
THE APPROACH
Convince
In convincing the Youth, it is fundamental to, after attracting and engaging, to
revert a sense of assurance and guarantee that the political outfit or candidate
is best placed to resolve all their concerns in a manner that he/she or the political
party has showcased its willingness to involve the very youth in the run up towards
victory.
Befittingly, the assurance and guarantee rests on making the youth feel and know
that ‘THE VICTORY IS THEIRS”
The key consideration in convincing is the political messaging and packaging as it is
these two aspects that speak to not just the minds of the youth voters but also their
emotive institutions.
Convince the
Youth
The Convincing power of any political party outfit or candidate rests solely with the
Flag bearer or candidate contesting an election. As such, for a Presidential campaign,
it is imperative that the Presidential candidate aspirant and his/her Deputy nominee
engage as the face and representation of their candidature.
It does not suffice to simply launch a manifesto, anyone can launch one, but it takes
it a notch higher and renders more believability.
As a youth targeting convincing undertaking, a political party or candidate can
consider the following;
1. Extracting youth specific manifesto pillars from their manifesto and tailor
messaging around them
2. Political messaging be youth-specific and realized on social media and online
platforms where Youth are in high traffic numbers
3. Modern politics is technology driven. The youth are intrigued by technology;
political messaging and packaging need to bear more audio-visual productions as
opposed to word of mouth and written sources only.
4. Political informercials need to be youth specific and organic to give clear
insights of what is in it for the youth with the victory of the political party or candidate.
THE APPROACH

Inferential Youth Convincing

Strategies

Youth Specific manifesto

issues

Political messaging and

Packaging

Youth Targeted Political

Informercials

Social and Online media Make your presence online and digital count. Captivating the youth and convincing
flooding them is easier using streams and platforms youth frequently prefer being on.
As a political party outfit or Candidate, using the special volunteer network prescribed
in this production, it is possible to flood the social media and digital platforms with
well messaged and packaged content that surely bears convincing power on the
targeted electorate.
THE APPROACH Inferential Youth Convincing Strategies

Included Support Inputs

Convincing the youth requires any party outfit or candidate to speak to the hearts,
mind and soul of the electorate. Using impact targeting audio-visuals, a political
party outfit or candidate can actively engage and captivate the youth thereby
leading to an ease of convincing to vote for them. Added reversions such as mass
bulk SMS tailored messaging, and broadcasting come in handy too.
For the three pillars aforestated and elaborated herein to materialize to their optimal
impact, the following support inputs are equally necessary as part of the Youth vote
targeting agenda;
1. Youth campaign paraphernalia e.g. Hoodies, jerseys etc
2. Bulk Target Mass Messaging and broadcasting services
3. Interactive online digital events/sessions/lives

Peroration

The initiatives elaborated herein form the overview of a comprehensive

implementation workplan and Action framework that can be made privy
Convincing the youth requires any party outfit or candidate to speak to the to any offtaker willing to engage further on the same.
hearts, mind and soul of the electorate. Using impact targeting audio-visuals,
a political party outfit or candidate can actively engage and captivate the
youth thereby leading to an ease of convincing to vote for them. Added
reversions such as mass bulk SMS tailored messaging, and broadcasting come
in handy too.
 Contact Details
Tony Blaire Institute for Global
Change
info@tonybalire.UK
London, United Kingdom