Why Kenyans defended Alex Mwakideu but persecuted Jalang’o
Alex Mwakideu and Jalang’o were both exposed by their new archnemesis, Edgar Obare and it was rather interesting to see how Kenyans reacted to their two situations very differently. The dichotomy between the two reactions was almost night and day. With Jalang’o, Kenyans were livid at the radio personality, to the point of using his indiscretions as proof that men from his ethnic community are no good lotharios.
When it was Alex Mwakideu up on the chopping block, Kenyans reacted with revulsion towards Edgar Obare to the point of calling for his man card to be revoked.
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Mwakideu’s visitation was a literal mirror of Jalas’own situation but the reactions were on two opposite ends of the spectrum. Both have a WhatsApp group that they use to boast about their conquests. Boys Club vs Porini. And because it is such an interesting case study, I want us to look at why Kenyans reacted to these two men and their situations so divergently.
For starters, Kenyans are tribalists. That is why people immediately went into that mode of thinking where they felt Jalang’o was merely living up to his tribe’s stereotype of being a ladies man. The Nairobian even ran a piece that was so bullshit, it literally reads “Why women are running away from Luo men after Jalang’o’s drama”. The details about what Jalas and Alex do are nearly identical down to their WhatsApp group yet here Kenyans want to treat them differently. Why? Because one is a Luo and the other isn’t.
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The second reason for the different reactions was the fact that fundamentally, these two men represent different values. Well, that should have an asterisk to it. Jalang’o and Alex Mwakideu are the same animals but different beasts. They stand on the same value sets. But Mwakideu outwardly espouses a different set of values. He is “the family man”. As a result, Kenyans rallied to his defence arguing that Edgar Obare was ruining families. He was callously exposing a philanderer and causing his wife to leave.
The third reason for this nonsense is that Jalang’o who is flashy, courts envy more than Alex Mwakideu. Jalang’o is flashy. He is everywhere. Get online and chances are, you will come across his brand. On TV, you will interact with his brand. He is also a radio personality. Also, he is vocal. This has caused a lot of men who openly envy and resent Jalas to bash him. On the other hand, Mwakideu has presented himself as a laid back man so men who do not view him as a threat would rather cape for him.
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