Intergrity of Ol Kalou by-election under scrutiny as voters head to the ballot

IEBC Commissioners Anne Nderitu and Noor Hassan Noor inspect Ol Kalou ballot boxes on July 15, 2026.[David Gichuru-Standard]

Residents of Ol Kalou constituency go to the ballot today to elect their MP, in a by-election that has been marred by violence, massive bribery, use of public resources to induce voters, rigging claims and allegations of bias against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The electoral commission, which is mandated by law to manage, supervise, and conduct all elections, monitor and regulate campaign funds as well as enforce the electoral laws, appeared to be a toothless bulldog because it failed to maintain order and discipline among political players and State actors who have violated the law with impunity.

In a preliminary pre-election assessment released Wednesday, Election Observer Group (ELOG) said the campaign period has been characterised by heightened political activity across all five wards of the constituency, during which the group documented several practices that raise concerns regarding compliance with the legal and ethical standards governing election campaigns.

“One common practice involved distributing Sh1,000 to groups of three people, locally referred to as "330 meetings." The recipients included women, youth, and older persons, although women aged between 25 and 45 years and youth aged between 20 and 35 years appeared most frequently in observer reports,” the group said.

This, they expressed, pointed to a "compromised" pre-election environment casting doubts on the credibility of the mini-polls.

Although the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had made notable progress in preparing for the vote, according to the study, the conduct of political campaigns had undermined the integrity of the electoral process.

"Given the above, Elog considers the pre-election environment to be compromised," said the organisation's chairperson Victor Nyongesa.

On Wednesday, the commission absolved itself from the blame for not enforcing the law to curb violence while at the same time contradicting itself on why it failed in its role of investigating State officers who used public resources to campaign for the UDA candidate Samuel Muchina.

Commissioner Alutalala Mukhwana said the commission was not to blame for the violence and instead shifted blame to the National Police Service (NPS) and other multi-sector agency cooperation who were working with IEBC.

“We have what you call a multi- sector agency cooperation. We have the Inspector General of the police. We have the NCIC, we have the EACC and we have IPOA among other non-state actors. So when we have elections before, during and after, we rope in all these agencies because under the constitution, each one of us has a role,” said Mukhwana.

He claimed that the role of IEBC is to conduct, supervise elections and referendum, while the police should take care of the security of all elections and therefore provide safety.

"Once we have approached the police and given our needs as far as security deployment is concerned and we have also educated the public on their rights as far as their safety at the polling centers is concerned. then we have done our job,” he said.

On why they have not held Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries involved in campaigns against the law to account, Alutalala claimed it was difficult to prove whether the government officials were discharging their mandate or inducing voters.

Additionally, the commissioner, while claiming that the commission was investigating the conduct of the CSs and PSs, said the commission can only investigate matters arising in a by election during the campaign period but had no powers to do so once the by-election is over.

“As a commission, we are clear in our mind that public officials have no business participating in electoral activities contrary to the dictates of the law. They make the work so difficult for us, they reinforce this public perception that we are in bed with government,” he said.

During last year’s by-election in Mbeere North, Alutalala regretted that Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruuku stormed a polling station, but he did not explain why the IEBC did not sanction him.

He was at pains to explain that the commission had no instructions from those in charge of government whatsoever to deal one way or the other.

But the commissioner said it was hard to rule on voter inducement, saying, “The running thread in all these actions must be the effect. You must ask yourself, did it have the effect of dislocating the sovereign will of the voter in such a manner that the voter then proceeded to vote a way that she ordinarily would not have voted? That's really hard to prove.’

He added: “That's why I told you, you can prosecute on TV, but it's not the same way for IEBC, we must determine whether the items were used in a manner that reduced the voters' card to a tool of survival rather than an exercise of her sovereign will in electing who she or he desired.

The Supreme Court in 2017 invalidated the presidential election,  when it declared that an election is a process rather than an event and affirmed the importance all the election-related activities that have a bearing on voting day.

The country’s apex court maintained that even if the results appeared to be correctly compiled and calculated, it lacked legitimacy without a credible process behind it.

Constitutional and political players described the Supreme Court’s decision as having elevated the process above the result.

“Elections are not only about numbers as many, surprisingly even prominent lawyers, would like the country to believe. Even in numbers, we used to be told in school that to arrive at a mathematical solution, there is always a computational path one has to take, as proof that the process indeed gives rise to the stated solution....Elections are not events but processes,” part of the judgment read.

The commission has been under sharp criticism of bias especially by the Opposition who said it had felt short of playing the role of an arbiter for the polls.

Former Deputy President and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and civic right groups accused the electoral body of failing to restore order and acting against the rogue political players involved in violence and voter inducements.

In a letter addressed to IEBC Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon, Gachagua claimed the commission had lost public confidence and alleged it had selectively enforced electoral laws in favour of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

He cited previous by-elections, including those in Malava, Mbeere North and Narok Town Ward, claiming the commission failed to act against alleged voter bribery, intimidation and violence involving politicians allied to the government.

Gachagua further alleged that senior government officials, including Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and other state officers, had actively campaigned for the UDA candidate in Ol Kalou without attracting sanctions from the electoral commission.

He raised concerns about the integrity of the July 16 poll, claiming he had received information from a meeting allegedly held on July 13 that involved UDA officials, government officers and political leaders.

According to Gachagua, discussions at the meeting allegedly centred on plans to interfere with the electoral process.

Among the allegations, he claimed there were plans to delay accreditation of DCP agents, postpone the opening of polling stations in opposition strongholds, issue double ballot papers to UDA supporters, permit voter bribery, deploy plain-clothes police officers to intimidate voters and agents, and interfere with vote counting through planned power outages.

The opposition on Wednesday demanded that the Commission (IEBC) crack the whip on the bigwigs in government who have violated the electoral laws in the Olkalou by-election.

Opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka said the manner in which the electoral commission will handle tomorrow’s mini polls will demonstrate whether or not it was an impartial arbiter and its capacity to hold a free, fair and credible general election.

“As you preside over the Ol Kalou by-election, do so under the law and perform your duties with utmost professionalism and impartiality. You have powers to sanction anyone including bigwigs in government, who violate the electoral laws, as well as those who orchestrate violence. Do not stand idle while the integrity of elections is eroded," Kalonzo said.

They expressed concerns over the escalating political violence in the country, noting that it threatened the country’s constitutional democracy, national cohesion, and the rule of law.

They singled out Kisumu and Nyahururu violence where the Opposition leaders were attacked and they demanded prompt, impartial, and transparent investigations to establish full facts surrounding the incidents.

“However, what is already evident is that political intolerance is steadily replacing democratic engagement. The Constitution of Kenya guarantees every citizen the right to assemble peacefully, associate freely, move without intimidation, and participate in political life,” former Attorney General Justin Muturi said.

Muturi recounted the incidents in which the Opposition leaders have been attacked by goons alleged to have been sponsored by the State as well as police officers in plain clothes.

He recalled how Gachagua and Kalonzo were attacked in April on their way to Kikuyu for a rally and last week’s attack on People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua while accompanying clients for the lawful implementation of High Court orders at Gatoto Primary School in Mukuru kwa Reuben.

“These incidents, together with the events unfolding across the country, raise serious questions about whether public institutions are discharging their constitutional obligations impartially and effectively. Kenya cannot become a nation where organized violence is answered by organized retaliation,’ the Democratic Party (DP) leader said.

There has also been widespread violence in Olkalou where men believed to be police officers wearing balaclavas attacked and lobbed teargas to Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) allies with one person reportedly being killed during the melee.