The Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) on Thursday unveiled its first batch of aspirants for the upcoming by-elections, signalling its intention to challenge the ruling party and other dominant political forces across the country.
The announcement sets the stage for a fierce political contest involving President William Ruto’s ruling alliance, the Raila Odinga-led opposition, and DCP—a newly launched political party associated with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua poses for a photograph after unveiling his new political outfit, the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), at the party headquarters in the Lavington, Nairobi, on May 15, 2025.
Photo credit: Thomas Mukoya | Reuters
Mr Gachagua was impeached eight months ago and now serves as DCP party leader. The upcoming by-elections are being closely watched as an early indicator of the 2027 General Election battle lines.
The party presented two aspirants—Aden Mohamed for Banisa Constituency and Edgar Busiega for Malava Constituency—at its headquarters in Nairobi.
These by-elections were triggered by the deaths of Banisa MP Kulow Maalim Hassan in March 2023 and Malava MP Moses Injendi earlier this year.
“These are young people. DCP is a party that believes in nurturing young leadership, and the party leader and the NEC have committed to setting aside resources to ensure that DCP wins more than 50 percent of the available by-election seats,” said DCP deputy party leader Cleophas Malala.
The unveiling comes as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), now fully constituted, prepares to conduct long-delayed by-elections for 22 positions.
These include six National Assembly seats, one Senate position and 15 Member of County Assembly (MCA) slots. The delays were caused by the previous lack of quorum at the IEBC following the expiry of several commissioners' terms.
“As DCP, we have decided that we are going to field candidates in all the by-elections in Kenya. We want to urge the IEBC commissioners to hasten the process of ensuring that we have the respective pending by-elections,” said Mr Malala.
Among the constituencies DCP plans to contest are Kasipul, previously represented by the late Ong’ondo Were, who was killed by assailants in Nairobi and Ugunja, a seat left vacant after its MP Opiyo Wandayi, was appointed Energy Cabinet Secretary following the formation of a broad-based government.
Mr Malala warned against pre-election misconduct and called on the IEBC to rigorously enforce the electoral code of conduct.
“We have people insinuating that they will steal elections come 2027. We will petition the IEBC to take action against those people. You cannot subvert the will of the people,” he said.
“I subscribe to the ethos of the party. The party is built on the background of listening to people. I’m a villager by nature—I was raised in the village—and that is what I believe in. I promise my people of Malava that as I join this new party, I’ll hit the ground and seek their support,” said Mr Busiega who will contest in Malava.
Mr Mohamed, who previously vied on an ODM ticket, said his supporters encouraged his shift to DCP.
“After listening to the ground and the supporters who backed me in 2022 on an ODM ticket, they told me to go to DCP and run for this by-election on a DCP ticket. I want to assure DCP and all its members that Banisa Constituency will be the first constituency delivered by this new party called DCP,” he said.
According to Mr Malala, the party’s popularity has grown significantly in recent months with over 1.8 million members registered in the last two months alone.
