THE VERDICT

BY PAUL MWANGI 25TH OCT 2023 EDITION

HOW KENYANS BECAME

“TUGEGES”

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BY PAUL MWANGIwwww.theverdict.co.ke
THE

HOW KENYANS
BECAME “TUGEGES”
L ast year, a new word entered
kenya’s political lexicon;
Tugege. It is a word from the
Kikuyu language that is plural of
the name “Kagege”. A “kagege”
is a person who is extremely
confused to the point of gaping
vacantly at the world around
him. It comes from the word
“gega” which means “stare in
puzzlement”.
The word has been adopted
by Kenyans into the political
dictionary to mean a person
who supports the government
without question and who
accepts everything they are told
to believe even when the issue
is an obvious lie. “Tugege” has
therefor come to mean the mass
of citizens who are possessed by
government’s political charm.
So significant has been this new
description of some Kenyans
that there have been demands
BY PAUL MWANGI
that the word be banned by
the National Cohesion and
Integration Commission as “hate
speech”. The Commission has
had to issue a public statement
saying it had no such plans.
To understand how the
phenomenon of “Tugege” came
about, one has to understand the
hold the Kenyan government
has had over Kenyans since
independence. One must look at
the psychology of its presidents
and its effect on the minds of
Kenyans.
Kenya’s presidents have
managed to turn Kenya into one
of the most docile societies.
We can take anything. We are
so compliant that whenever
Kenyan presidents are cornered
for their misdeeds, their modus
operandi is to procrastinate and
let time flow; because we shall
invariably forget.
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Human beings are not
rebellious
Human being are actually not born
as dissenters but as conformists.
We conform because our training
is based on control. Our parents
control us. Teachers control us.
For about a third of our life, we
are under the direct control of our
parents and our teachers.
We are, during this period of
control, conditioned to do things
in a particular way; how to wash
our bodies, brush our teeth, make
our beds, dress, calculate, read, etc.
A Noble Prize in Medicine
winning psychologist in Russia
by the name of Ivan Petrovich
Pavlov discovered how this
control and conditioning could
be used to make people do things
without thinking. He took a dog,
now popularly known as Pavlov’s
dog, and whenever he fed it he
rang a bell.
Now, dogs salivate when they see
food. Before long, Pavlov’s dogs
began to associate the sound of
the bell with food. After many
repetitions, Pavlov began to ring
the bell without feeding the dog.
Every time the dog heard the
bell, its mouth watered.
Pavlov came up with the theory
that since man was an even more
intelligent animal with better
learning capacity, he could be
conditioned. His intelligence
and conditions could be reduced
into a simple mechanical system
of automatic response. You could
condition man to think and feel
what you wanted.
Enter
psycho-politics
Joseph Stalin, the then
communist leader of Russia,
immediately saw the great
political possibilities that lay
in Pavlov’s theories. Under the
Russian Academy of Sciences,
he established a Scientific
Council to study the theories of
Pavlov. The mandate given to the
council was to study the political
applications of Pavlov’s theories.
The findings of the Russian
Academy of Sciences became
the foundations of what is now
known as “thought control”. It
is the process by which a person,
an institution or a government,
transforms a free human mind
into an automatic – response
machine committed to and
serving a particular ideology.
The findings of the Soviets
were taken a step farther in
the 1920’s and 1930’s by the
Chinese revolutionary leader
Mao Tse – Tung who was
struggling to consolidate the
communist revolution. After
the successful declaration of the
BY PAUL MWANGI
People’s Republic of China, he
began implementing the soviet
findings on Pavlov theories
through what were called
“thought reform” programmes.
The goal was to make the
Chinese people denounce their
past political views and adopt
new communist State approved
political philosophies.
By the time the Second World
War broke out, the political
manipulation of people had
become both an art and science.
But while the Soviets and the
Chinese were researchers and the
developers of this art and science,
it fell on one Adolf Hitler to test
it as a fully developed political
strategy in manipulating a
country.
Hitler perfected it all
Nazism is remembered for
its effective use of political
manipulation. Using both
soviet brainwashing tactics and
Chinese indoctrination methods
the two, Adolf Hitler managed
to put up a political party, win a
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democratic election, develop one
of the largest armies in history,
conquer and plunder Europe,
and with impunity exterminate
over 6 million Jews. All these
done by a once homeless, ex–
convict school dropout who
once desired to become a priest.
It is not the barrel of the gun that
creates dictatorial regimes. It is
“thought control”. It enables a
power psychotic to manipulate a
whole country to serve his ideals
for his own selfish objectives.
Kenyan governments have
craftily combined lessons from
Russia, China and Germany
to establish one of the most
suave dictatorships in the world.
Kenyan presidents are strong
while appearing weak, cruel while
appearing compassionate, selfish
while appearing philanthropic,
and shrewd while appearing
dumb.
The tools of manipulation:
Brainwashing
The political foundations of
brainwashing is that the country
is one organism. The citizens are
just cells of that organism. This
is no different from man who
though is one unit is made up of
millions of cells.
But when some cells get sick,
they have to be treated. If they
cannot be treated, they have
to be destroyed. To political
manipulators, the State has to
run on the same principle.
The theory of brainwashing says
that in the State, some people
operate as germs and viruses,
attacking the population with
disloyal ideals which spread
to the rest of the body. The
political manipulator must
eradicate the effectiveness of
these “disgruntled elements”.
Use of force
One way of eradicating the
effectiveness of citizens who
criticize the State is the use
of force. The most barbaric,
unrestrained and brutal use
of force, if carried far enough,
invokes obedience. Any
government which has the
spirit and courage to display
inhumanity, savageness, brutality
and an uncompromising lack of
humanity, will be obeyed.
Mental Destruction
For others, the State uses mental
destruction. The “disgruntled
element” is subjected to police
harassment which induces
mental collapse. He is also
slandered, humiliated and
socially isolated. The idea is to
ensure that the person becomes
severely mentally demeaned and
ineffective.
BY PAUL MWANGI
Psychological destruction
One of the institutions the
The “disgruntled element” political manipulators prioritise
is exposed to psychological to pervert is the Judiciary.
pressures that will destabilize his When the Judiciary is no longer
mind and thinking. This is done independent, when the judicial
by attacking the things that are process becomes a farce, the
dearest to his mind. Firstly, the people become frightened and
State attacks the family. Then the malleable.
State attacks the friends. Friends
are punished for associating with The tools of manipulation:
him or her. Other friends are Destroy the Youth
made to believe the “disgruntled
element” has betrayed them. The aspirations of a society are
carried by its youth. They usually
The tools of manipulation:
Keep the people poor
Political manipulators
believe that when people
are prosperous, they
became uncontrollable.
Their minds are open
and excitable. In order
to keep people under
control, the people must
be maintained in poverty.
The tools of manipulation:
Keep the people under
terror
have a mind of their own and are
The state must keep the people less afraid of the State. For the
under tight control and under political manipulator, their spirit
a state of terror. It must always must therefore be destroyed.
be ready to use terror to achieve The political manipulators
compliance. The people must promotes chaos in them. They
believe that the State can kill must be made idle and worthless.
them at any time for any reason. The use of drugs and alcohol is
allowed to flourish.
The tools of manipulation:
Destroy the institutions of the
country The tools of manipulation:
Removal of ethical
The political manipulator must standards
pervert and subjugate all the
democratic institutions of the Political manipulators
country. Every public agency deliberately recruit people
that gives power to the people who are depraved, financially
must be emasculated.
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and morally, and puts them in
charge of the public, allowing
them to openly indulge in
depravity. They are allowed to
be lawless with impunity. Once
recruited, these people are used
to execute destructive schemes
against the people.
The tools of manipulation:
Indoctrination
The second tool in political
manipulation is indoctrination.
This is where the political
manipulators takes over the
mind of the people and replaces
their thinking with his. This is
done in a few steps.
Attacking what the people
believe in.
The first step towards
indoctrinating people is to attack
what they believe in. Once the
people are confused, they drop
their mental defenses and the
political manipulators can now
invade their minds.
Isolating the people
For indoctrination to be
successful, people must be
prevented from validating
each other. Using the police
and intelligence agencies, the
political manipulators make
people mistrust each other.
Lies are spread about political
enemies. People are arrested for
their opinions or criticisms. The
society is filled with rumuor-
mongerers and informers.
People stop talking. Without
validation, their thoughts never
become convictions.
BY PAUL MWANGI
Bombarding the people with
love
The confused and isolated mind
has now to be made to concentrate
on the political manipulator. The
political manipulator does this
through “love bombardment”.
He continuously tells the people
how he loves them. He shows
them he is like them, a part of
the masses. He pays attention to
them and they fall in love with
him.
Using propaganda to sell
ideals.
The people are now ready to
be indoctrinated. The political
manipulator now tells them
what he believes in. He makes
the people think like him.
Confused, isolated and in love
with the political manipulator,
the people will believe and do
anything he says. He now molds
them to serve him only and can
manipulate them towards his
selfish objectives.
Eliciting collaboration by
rewards and punishment.
The political manipulator makes
it clear that co-operation will
result in reward and opposition
in punishment. The animal
instinct in man will make him
co-operate for his own survival.
Punishment not only intimidates
people but also deters those
who may entertain the idea of
opposing.
Using irrationality.
To maintain the people in this
state of confusion, isolation
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and conditioning, the political
manipulators use irrationality.
Adolf Hitler perfected the art
of irrationality. No one could
predict him. He deliberately
kept people guessing. They were
always in a state of confusion
and upheaval. If the people
predicted him, he would do
the exact opposite. This art of
irrationality confuses our logic.
Once our logic is confused, we
are unable to think straight. This
keeps the political manipulator
in control of our minds.
The tools of manipulation:
Propaganda
The third tool of thought
control is propaganda. A French
philosopher, La Rochefoucauld,
said:
“A man is like a rabbit, you catch
him by his ears”
Adolf Hitler understood
propaganda. He perfected the
art of manipulating people
through it. From the day he set
up the Nazi party, Adolf Hitler
relied strongly on propaganda.
He knew that fear and terror
can ensure compliance but in
the long run, propaganda was
the best tactic of control.
But Hitler’s propaganda was
not just about misinformation.
Hitler used well organized rallies
as propaganda tools. Colorful
ceremonies and massive
collections of people were used
to fascinate the people and get
the leaders to make personal
contact with them. It also gave
the people a sense of belonging
to the State. Hitler held public
gatherings for every possible
reason.
Even official government work
was used as a propaganda
tool. Government policies
and projects were formulated,
launched and implemented to
further the name of the Nazi
movement and promote the
admiration of the people for
Hitler.
Hitler also came up with the
concept of “the galloping lie”.
This is a lie that was big and
alive. It lived in the minds of the
people and grew stronger every
day. It kept moving. It kept
evolving. No one could pin it
down. When it met difficulties,
it mutated and continued.
The effect of political
manipulation on the citizen
The subjection of a people to
political manipulation results in
very negative consequences. Very
few people have the strength
of mind to resist. This is how
Tugeges are born. But there are
“Super Tugeges” and “Common
Tugeges”. The following are the
“Super Tugeges”.
The Get – alongers.
The Get-alongers are those
who try to balance between
their own interests and those
of the demands of the political
manipulator. They do not agree
with him yet they have too
much to lose by resisting him.
They therefore try to walk a thin
line between keeping away and
co-operating. Many State and
public officers and accomplished
businessmen are get-alongers.
BY PAUL MWANGI
The Co – operators
They are those who help the
political manipulator achieve
his goals. The society looks at
them as traitors. They agree to be
members of the system so that
they can exploit the situation
for their selfish interests. They
are individualistic and have no
concern for the rest of the people.
Bored Intellectual
They join the political
manipulator out of intellectual
curiosity. Their support of the
political manipulator is an
intellectual exercise and they get
a chance to put their academic
theories in practice.
Losers
They have a low status in life
and sometimes no financial
success and cannot resist the
chance to exalt themselves. The
political manipulator provides
them with an opportunity to
impose themselves over a society
that did not recognise them or
respect them.
Empathizers
They are also political
manipulators in their hearts and
minds. They believe in the same
ideologies with the political
manipulator. They also become
small political manipulators
within the regime.
And the common Tugeges ?
After being manipulated,
terrorized both psychologically
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and physically, and
impoverished, the common
Kenyan has gotten into a state
of confusion that is akin to
insanity. The common Kenyans
have anger they cannot vent,
ambitions they cannot fulfill,
sentiments they cannot express.
All these boil in their minds
until they withdraw into
themselves. They suffer from
what Joost Meerloo in “The
Rape of the Mind” calls “The
Barbed Wire Disease”.
“The symptoms of this disease is that
the public surrender into a zombie
like existence. It begins when the
people have everything they believe
in attacked and invalidated. Then
they are isolated and made to feel
lonely and detached from each
other … Finally the people are
bombarded with lies, rumors and
ideologies.
“… people retreat into the safety of
themselves. They become aloof and
apathetic … The choice is either to
adjust and do what is required or
withdraw as far as possible from it
all.”
The common Kenyans have run
away from the reality because
the reality is too painful to face.
They have detached their mind
and gone into a mental seclusion.
They have become dumb and
unresponsive, almost insensitive.
Nothing shocks them because
they will not let their minds
deal with it. The mind denies
the reality and creates its own
fantastic world where everything
is okay.
People in this kind of state are
very dangerous. Any major shock can trigger a break which can be extremely violent. A desire to react that is
greatly suppressed and is realized all at once can be catastrophic.

Towards healing

The Kenyan society must begin to come to terms with its past. We must accept that we have falled prey to the
machinations of shrewd political manipulation. We must accept that willingly and unwillingly, we have played
a part in our own degradation. Sometimes we didn’t know what was happening. At times we knew but were
afraid. We must agree to face the guilt and the shame of our cowardice.

THE VERDICT BY PAUL MWANGI 25TH OCT 2023

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