Comedian Jalang’o to Spend Sh40 Million on His Lang’ata MP Campaign

Popular comedian Felix Odiwuor, alias Jalang’o, says he expects to spend about Sh40 million on his campaigns ahead of the August 9th elections.

Jalang’o, who is eyeing the Lang’ata parliamentary seat on an ODM party ticket, said most of the funds will go towards the logistics of the campaign.

“It is not about handouts or anything like that, but for a well-oiled campaign, it would easily cost about Sh30 million to Sh40 million so that you will be able to move into every single place and articulate your issues,” Jalang’o told Citizen TV in an interview on Friday.

The radio presenter-cum-politician noted that the upcoming elections will go down as the most expensive in the country’s history due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled the economy, leading to increased poverty levels.

“This is going to be the most expensive election for any politician because we are coming from the pandemic and you can go to the ground to articulate issues out there but the situation forces you to go beyond selling your ideologies to giving food and help to people,” he said.

Asked how he will raise the huge campaign budget, Jalang’o said he has held fundraisers, put up kitties, and received donations from his friends and well-wishers.

“I had my fundraiser in December 2021 in which a few friends put in a good amount of money for me to start my campaigns; and from time to time I have also had support from my constituency in Langa’ta,” he stated.

Jalang'o bagged the ODM party ticket after garnering 3,509 votes in last month’s nominations ahead of his closest rival Oscar Omoke who got 1,612 votes.

He will face off with the incumbent Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir, who is defending his seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket.