How Kenyan politicians are redefining Christmas festivities at a heavy price

Christmas season has emerged as a new political territory, turning what once belonged to family, faith and festivity into a political spectacle wrapped in festive cheer.

2025 was no exception as the political class descended on towns and villages with the pageantry of goodwill bearing gifts in form of branded merchandise and shopping.

Christmas gifting has emerged as a powerful political currency where politicians offer short-term relief in exchange for long-term loyalty.

Acts of generosity that once defined communal sharing and goodwill are now tools for political mobilisation with the thin line between charity and vote-buying breached.

Occasions when Kenyans can freely access the heavily-guarded homes of politicians are rare and Christmas is one of them.

Kenyans have been streaming into the homes of politicians to pick their Christmas gifts with some politicians sending emissaries with the gifts or distributing them at social spaces such as churches.

President William Ruto was also at it with Jacaranda Bunge la Mwananchi among the beneficiaries of his Christmas generosity.

His deputy, Kithure Kindiki took a break from the city and retreated to Irunduni village where neighbours lined up to pick their Christmas gifts.

Nominated Senator Karen Nyamu camped in Nairobi where her political ambitions are understood to be grounded.

Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi organized a mega gift-giving event in his constituency with thousands turning up to pick their gifts.

Perhaps aware of the questions that would arise on the source of funds used to procure the gifts, Sudi explained that friends chanelled resources towards the initiative.

Uncomfortable questions about dignity, dependency, and the true cost of “free” gifts in Kenya’s political life cannot be ignored in what has now become a familiar ritual every December.

What appears to be festive benevolence is, in reality, a carefully cultivated political strategy that entrenches a culture of handouts.

The practice also reinforces a culture where leadership is measured not by ideas or accountability, but by the size and visibility of handouts.

Noticeably, the gifts drop significantly in the December following elections as losers retreat to strategise on how to capture power and revel in the glory of a mission accomplished.

By hijacking Christmas festivities with fake generosity, politicians are increasingly weakening civic expectations and reducing the promise of democracy to what can be distributed rather than what can be delivered.

Behind the seasonal cheer also lies a darker suspicion that refuses to fade: that much of this grand gifting is financed not from personal sacrifice, but from the proceeds of corruption in a country where the vice remains rampant.