It is now clear that Raila’s followers have been drawn in to follow him blindly regardless of what asks of them explicitly or implicitly.
They are prepared to rough up defenseless women holding a prayer meeting, burn down houses and tear our nation in two.
It’s adherents are asked to avoid work, thus harming their financial status, and avoid elections, thus harming their ability to elect their own leaders.
Ask any of the members of the cult of Raila why they support him, and few, if any, will be able to provide a coherent message of political vision or progressive agenda.
The cult of Raila even has a new form of religious flagellation when his supporters actively call for the authorities to use tear gas on them and are actively disappointed when they don’t.
Raila and his advisors have created what sociologist Max Weber calls ‘charismatic authority’, described as “resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism, or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him.”
The charismatic authority displays high levels of narcissism and an inner clarity unhindered by the anxieties and guilt that afflict more ordinary people.
