Wajackoyah Offered Real Bhang During Campaigns

A collage of Roots presidential candidate George Wajackoyah during a campaign rally at Shianda Market, Kakamega county on Sunday, June 26
A collage of Roots presidential candidate George Wajackoyah during a campaign rally at Shianda Market, Kakamega county on Sunday, June 26
Alex Kanyi

The growing craze about Roots presidential presidential candidate George Wajackoyah on Sunday, June 26 went a notch higher after his supporters offered him real raw bhang during a campaign rally in Khiswero town, Vihiga County.

A video seen by Kenyans.co.ke, captured a supporter in the rally carrying a marijuana twig which he offered the party leader campaigning atop of the vehicle.

As the roots party stooped to collect a rastafarian flag from one of his supporters, the man in possession of the plant stretched out, attempting to hand it to the presidential hopeful.

A supporter carries a marijuana plant during Roots Party Leader Wajackoyah's rally on June 24, 2022..jpg (51.71 KB)
A supporter carries a marijuana plant during Roots Party Leader Wajackoyah's rally in Vihiga on June 24, 2022.
Alex Kanyi

However Wajackoyah quickly got up and waved the flag to the fans on the other side of the vehicle. Despite being clearly ignored, the wayward fan continued flashing the plant in a bid to catch his attention.

The development came as the radical presidential candidate continued to push for the legalization of marijuana if elected President in the August 9 General Election. 

Despite pushing for free use of the drug, Wajackoyah openly declared that he has never consumed marijuana in any form - a principle he promised to deviate from once he is sworn into office if he wins the August 9 poll.

"I am 62 years old I don't drink, I don't smoke I don't eat meat, fish I have never smoked bhang as I was once an a police officer. I'll only smoke when we will be sworn in to purify State House," he stated.

He further revealed that he was a teetotaler- he does not consume alcohol, and that he neither consumes meat or fish - a culture he attributed to his Hare Krishna religious background, in which he is a Chief Priest.

Wajackoyah's perpective on bhang, which has been deemed controversial by many has received the backing of a section of fellow scholars including Gwada Ogot, a researcher who has been pushing for legalization of the herb.

On Sunday, Ogot accompanies Wajackoyah during his tour of the western region where they were met with crowds of enthusiastic youth. 

They made stops in Bunyore land, known as a popular hub for bhang consumption, including stop overs in Maseno, Ebuyangu, Khwisero, Luanda among other neighboring towns such as Malinya, Sabatia, Khayega, and Shianda. 

Among the sharp critics of his pro-marijuana campaign is the clergy, who have come out to castigate the push, insisting that it would cause more harm than good to Kenyans.

Some of his critics have gone ahead to push for his arrest over the promotion of an illegal substance. However, legal experts Kenyans.co.ke talked to clarified that the promotion of the drug is not a crime under Kenyan law. The law criminalises possession and trafficking of the illegal product. 

As per the 1994 Act, it is stipulated that an individual can be arrested and prosecuted for the importation, exportation, manufacture, buying, sale, giving, supplying, storing, administering, conveyance, delivery, or distribution of bhang.

"A person guilty of an offense under Sub Section 1 shall be liable in respect of cannabis, where the person satisfies the court that the cannabis was intended solely for his own consumption, to imprisonment for ten years and in every other case to imprisonment for twenty years," reads the Act in part.

Here is the VIDEO

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