The popularity of Roots Presidential candidate George Wajackoyah has gone beyond the Kenyan borders as his ideology has increasingly gained traction in Tanzania.
On Sunday, June 19, Wajackoyah was interviewed by Tanzania's biggest online journalist - Millard Ayo - where he spoke about his plans for the country. The interview immediately went viral in Tanzania as Kenya's neighbours expressed admiration for the presidential candidate's out-of-the-box thinking.
The presidential candidate was compared to former Tanzanian President John Magufuli over his independence of thought and drastic proposals which include legalising marijuana, hanging the corrupt, and a four-day working week.
"If he is elected to office and legalises bhang, I will move to Kenya. I will not suffer in poverty when my brothers and sisters in Kenya are excelling. Kenya, this is your chance to elect the people's president," Ainet Kaijage remarked.
"Someone enlighten on the process of changing citizenship and the cost of land in Kenya," Rebeca Mkiva reacted.
Wajackoyah added that if elected to office, he would reach out to Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu to have a bilateral agreement that would allow the two countries to grow bhang atop Mt Kilimanjaro.
"We love President Suluhu and if I'm allowed I will go see her so that we can partner. Research has shown that Mt Kilimanjaro is very arable to bhang. If we partner in legalising it, we can change the economy of the East Africa region.
"I am a personal friend to Museveni of Uganda and he has already legalised - same with Rwanda. If Tanzania joins the bandwagon, it will be a game-changer because marijuana grows naturally in Tanzania," Wajackoyah argued.
The presidential hopeful further impressed Tanzanians after promising to help end the differences between Suluhu's Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the opposition party Chadema.
The eccentric candidate confirmed he had close ties to Chadema luminaries including the party leader Tundu Lissu - who was Wajackoyah's classmate at Warwick University.
"I have been Chadema's lawyer and I am happy that Suluhu has moved to make peace with the opposition. She also visited Lissu who was my classmate. I helped Godbless Lema get asylum here, as his lawyer, I processed his papers right here in my office. I will also talk to these people so that they can return from exile and build Tanzania because Suluhu is improving things," the Roots party boss stated.
Lissu fled Tanzania in 2017 after an attempted assassination that saw gunmen spray dozens of bullets into his car -16 of them struck his body in 2017.
He sought treatment in Nairobi before leaving Kenya for Belgium where he continues to live in exile.