How to hire a campaign manager in Kenya

In short: Hire a campaign manager who can run an organisation, not just give speeches: someone who plans, delegates to ward and constituency coordinators, controls money and holds people accountable every day. Hire early — at least a year before election day for a county-wide race — agree a written mandate and budget authority, and judge candidates on what they have organised before, not on who they know.

What a campaign manager actually does

The candidate is the face of the campaign. The campaign manager is its operations. While the candidate meets voters, the manager makes sure the rest of the organisation works: that coordinators report, that money is spent on the plan, that messages are consistent and that the campaign is ready for election day.

In a Kenyan campaign that usually means:

• Turning the candidate’s goals into a plan with ward-by-ward targets.
• Recruiting and managing coordinators at constituency and ward level.
• Running the daily and weekly meeting rhythm, and following up on what was agreed.
• Controlling the budget and approving spending with the treasurer.
• Keeping the candidate’s schedule aligned with the plan, not with whoever called last.
• Preparing the polling-agent operation and the election-day war room.
• Protecting the candidate’s time so they can campaign.

When to hire

Most candidates hire too late. By the time party nominations are close, the good organisers are already committed. As a rule of thumb, a county-wide campaign (governor, senator, woman representative) needs its manager in place well over a year before election day; a constituency or ward campaign needs one before the first serious recruitment of volunteers.

If you cannot afford a full-time manager yet, appoint one on a part-time or retainer basis and grow the role. What you cannot afford is to spend the early months without anyone owning the plan.

Work backwards from 10 August 2027 with our campaign planning timeline to see what needs to be in place at each stage.

The skills that matter

• Organisation: evidence they have built and run a team — a previous campaign, a church or community programme, an NGO field operation, a business with branches.
• Local knowledge: they understand the wards in your race — the communities, the local leaders, the travel times.
• Discipline with money: they can show how they controlled a budget before, and they are comfortable with written approvals.
• Calm under pressure: campaigns have bad days. The manager sets the tone.
• Honesty with the candidate: you need someone who will tell you a ward is going badly, not someone who tells you what you want to hear.
• Comfort with data and tools: they do not need to be technical, but they must be willing to run the campaign from real reports rather than impressions.

Where to find candidates

• People who managed or coordinated successful campaigns in your county before — including for other offices.
• Party organisers and former constituency office staff.
• Experienced managers from NGOs, churches, SACCOs and businesses with field operations.
• Referrals from trusted people who have seen the person work, not just socialise.

Be wary of anyone whose main offer is a list of contacts or a promise of votes. Networks matter, but a manager is hired to run an organisation.

Interview questions to ask

1. Tell me about the largest team you have organised. How many people, how many levels, and how did you know what each person was doing?
2. Walk me through how you would organise this race ward by ward in the first 90 days.
3. How would you decide which wards get more of our time and money?
4. A coordinator says he is working but his ward shows no activity. What do you do?
5. How have you controlled spending before? What would you need from me and the treasurer?
6. What would you need to have in place six weeks before election day?
7. When have you told a leader something they did not want to hear? What happened?

Ask for two references from people they have worked for, and call them.

Agree the mandate in writing

Many campaigns fail not because the manager is weak but because nobody knows what the manager is allowed to decide. Before they start, agree in writing:

• What the manager decides alone, what needs the candidate, and what needs the treasurer.
• The spending limit they can approve without the candidate.
• Who reports to them — and that coordinators do not bypass them to go straight to the candidate.
• How often they brief the candidate, and in what format.
• Pay, duration and how either side can end the arrangement.

The candidate must back the manager’s authority in public. A manager who is overruled every time a coordinator phones the candidate cannot run the campaign.

Set them up to succeed

• Give them the plan, the budget and the full contact list from day one.
• Put the campaign on one system for contacts, reports and money, so they manage from facts instead of phone calls.
• Agree the weekly numbers you will both watch: active wards, field reports, new volunteers, polling stations with agents.
• Review together every week, and adjust the plan rather than the story.

Warning signs in the first month

• They cannot tell you, with evidence, which wards are active.
• Money is being spent without written approval.
• Coordinators still report straight to the candidate.
• Every meeting is about strategy and none is about follow-up.

If you see these, raise them early. It is much cheaper to fix a manager’s working method in month one than to replace a manager in month nine.

Frequently asked questions

Does an MCA campaign need a campaign manager?

Yes, even if the role is part-time. A ward campaign still needs someone other than the candidate who owns the plan, the volunteers, the money and the polling-agent list.

Should my campaign manager be a relative?

Only if they are genuinely the best organiser available. Family members can find it hard to hold the candidate to account, and other staff may be reluctant to challenge them.

What is the difference between a campaign manager and a chief agent?

The campaign manager runs the whole campaign. A chief agent is responsible for the polling-agent operation on election day. In a small campaign one person may do both, but they are different jobs.