Campaign Playbooks
How winning campaigns run their operations.
How to Brief a Campaign Spokesperson
A spokesperson is only as good as the brief they get. What to give yours before every interview, with lessons from how Kenya's party spokespeople handled August and September 2026.
How to Track Your Opponents Without Losing Focus
Every campaign needs to know what its rivals are doing. Few need to know it every hour. A simple weekly system for tracking opponents without letting them run your diary.
What to Do When a Fake Document About Your Campaign Goes Viral
Fake seat-sharing deals, fake polls and fake quotes all circulated in Kenya in August and September 2026. A step-by-step response plan for a campaign that gets hit.
Funerals and Campaigns: The Unwritten Rules
Kenyan politicians announce bids, attack rivals and raise money at funerals. The IEBC says campaigning at burials is banned for the whole election period. How an aspirant should behave.
Getting Endorsed by Elders: What It's Worth and What It Costs
An elders' endorsement can open doors and settle a local contest. It can also split a community and invite a rival council to endorse someone else. Lessons from 2026.
How to Use Vernacular Radio in a County Campaign
*Updated 2 October 2026.* Vernacular radio works in a county campaign because it reaches older, rural and working voters in their own language, at the hours they listen, and a good talk-show slot cos...
Campaign Messaging in Sheng, Swahili and Mother Tongue
Swahili reaches everyone, while Sheng speaks to young urban voters and a mother tongue to the home area. All of them carry a risk, because any word can now be recorded, translated and sent to the NCIC.
How to Organise a Town Hall That Isn't a Rally
A town hall is a meeting where voters ask and the candidate answers, in a room small enough to hear both. This guide covers setting one up and following up while staying inside the IEBC's pre-campaign rules.
Building a Campaign Team for a Senate Race
A Senate campaign needs a campaign manager, a treasurer, a coordinator for each constituency with ward coordinators beneath them, a small data and communications desk, and a chain of polling agents th...
Zoning: What It Means When Parties Share Out Seats
Zoning is a deal between allied parties that, for a given seat, only one of them fields a candidate and the rest back that person. The ticket usually goes to whichever party is stronger in the area. I...
How to Win a Ward When Your Presidential Candidate Is Unpopular There
If your presidential candidate is unpopular in the ward, make the MCA race about the ward and show voters a record they can check. Recruit local people they respect, and remind them that the MCA ballo...
Campaigning in a County Where Your Party Is Weak
UDA took 5,450 votes in Ol Kalou and DCP took 10,760 in Emurua Dikirr. Both parties lost, and both results showed a floor to build on when the party's name costs you votes.