Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua must have had motives beyond merely asserting his authority in Mt Kenya politics when he insisted on fielding a candidate in the Ol Kalou Constituency by-election.
He brushed aside requests by the Jubilee Party not to field a candidate, which would have given Jubilee a better chance of retaining the seat previously held by David Kiaraho, who died in March, triggering the by-election. The former deputy president has described the contest as a 'friendly' match between opposition parties.
Judging by the voter turnout, Mr Gachagua has proven his point that his Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) has a strong following in the region. The turnout was far higher than at the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) nominations on Friday, May 8.
Out of the 72,997 registered voters in the constituency, 23,763 voters turned out to cast their votes in the DCP primaries, a 32.6 percent voter turnout compared to 8,215 votes cast during the UDA party nominations (11.3 percent).
Voters queue to cast their votes at AC Comprehensive School in Ol Kalou during the DCP nominations on May 9, 2026. The exercise recorded a high turnout, unlike that of UDA, which recorded a low number.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Samuel Kamau Ngotho won with 12,947 votes and will face Muchina Nyaga of the UDA party, who won the party primaries with 3,221 votes.
Mr Ngotho was followed by Paul Waiganjo with 4,978 votes, while Peter Mwangi came third with 3,919 votes, more than those garnered by the UDA candidate during their party nominations.
Going by the way the DCP conducted its party primaries, the former DP must have had a bigger idea. He wanted an opportunity to display either proof of might or trials for his elaborate electoral system.
Apart from the planning that was meticulously done, there was a deliberate display of logistics and technology.
On technology, while it took UDA more than seven hours to tally, verify, and announce the results of just 8,215 votes, it took DCP about five hours to do a similar exercise and announce the results by 11.00 pm, despite DCP having used manual voting at the polling stations.
In contrast, UDA had invested heavily in electronic voting devices that updated automatically immediately after a vote was cast. However, the party announced its results after midnight, almost seven hours after the official close of polling.
Notably, there was a significant youth presence, and they appeared to be in complete control of the voting process, from the polling stations to the tallying centres, with minimal supervision from senior officials.
At the Ol Kalou Catholic Hall, the party's tallying centre, there was an ICT centre fully staffed by young people.
In the tallying hall, reggae music occasionally played, and the election officials briefly danced, which eased tensions and made the process more enjoyable.
DCP had invested heavily in metal polling booths, which posed a significant challenge to the IEBC, which traditionally uses cardboard booths at polling stations.
After the votes were counted manually at the polling stations, the results were stored electronically and only entered into the system at the tallying centre after verification by all parties involved.
Supporters and officials of the DCP party wait for the announcement of the winner of the Ol Kalou nomination at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Ol Kalou on May 9, 2026.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
DCP released results electronically through a special app. Efficient time management was critical from the outset, with electoral materials reaching the polling stations by 5:00 am on Saturday morning and all materials reaching the tallying centre by 9:00 pm following the close of voting.
However, with UDA, some ballot papers had not arrived at the Mumbi tallying centre by 10 pm, including most of the boxes from Kanjuiri and Mirangine Ward.
UDA candidate George Wambugu is using the voting from these two wards as evidence of electoral malpractice in his petition to the UDA party tribunal.
Ol Kalou UDA aspirant George Wambugu addresses journalists at his home in Ol Kalou on May 9, 2026. He claimed the Friday’s nomination exercise was rigged against him and confirmed he will be moving to the party’s tribunal to call for a fresh exercise.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
The app used by the DCP had features such as result submission, agent management, result viewing, reconciliation, incident reporting, SMS messaging, sentiment analysis and event planning, among others. At least six youths were responsible for operating the ICT centre.
There was a heavy police presence during Friday's UDA primaries, as well as on Saturday.
“On Friday, the police officers looked mean and tough. The presence of GSU was very intimidating. During the Friday UDA nominations, the police officers were heavily armed, unlike those at the DCP primaries. It was very scary on Friday, at the polling stations and tallying centres; they kept pacing up and down, treating everyone suspiciously,” said a voter, Faith Kariuki.
She says that the heavy police presence at the polling stations, coupled with officers patrolling the towns, scared many voters away.
“I counted at least 8 police lorries in Ol Kalou town on Friday; they were all loaded with heavily armed police officers. It was both annoying and intimidating,” said John Ngure, a businessman in Ol Kalou town.
Even DCP deputy party leader Cleopas Malala noted the police conduct, saying it was encouraging.
“We are very happy with the way the police have conducted themselves today. They remained calm, friendly, and very professional. They will all go to heaven if they continue behaving this way. It's my hope they will behave the same way in the July 16 by-elections and during the general elections next year,” said Mr Malala.
At the UDAs nominations, the front row of seats was occupied by county and subcounty police chiefs, with more police officers all over the room, while the front row at the DCPs elections was occupied by the media.
