Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has escalated his standoff with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), accusing it of abandoning its constitutional mandate by allegedly tolerating voter bribery, political intimidation and state interference ahead of the July 16 Ol Kalou by-election.
In a blistering attack delivered a day before IEBC commissioners mark one year in office, the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader questioned whether the polls agency can be trusted to conduct the 2027 General Election, arguing that its handling of Ol Kalou has exposed what he described as selective enforcement of electoral laws and political bias.
The remarks came less than 24 hours after IEBC Chairman Erastus Ethekon warned that the Commission could postpone or cancel the Ol Kalou by-election if escalating voter bribery, violence and other electoral offences compromise the integrity of the poll.
But Mr Gachagua on Friday turned his guns on the electoral agency itself, accusing it of failing to act against those allegedly responsible for the very offences it now cites as grounds for delaying the election.
"How can the chairman threaten to cancel an election because of voter bribery when he has the constitutional and legal powers to stop it?" Mr Gachagua posed.
"The media has documented bribery every day. Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and other state officers have openly campaigned and bribed voters. Instead of taking action against them, the IEBC wants to punish the people of Ol Kalou by cancelling their election."
Gachagua cries foul ahead of Ol Kalou mini-poll
The former Deputy President argued that Article 81 of the Constitution requires elections to be free and fair, conducted without violence, intimidation, corruption or improper influence, while Article 38 guarantees every Kenyan the right to participate in regular, free and credible elections. He claimed the commission had failed to uphold those constitutional principles.
"We have repeatedly expressed our dissatisfaction with the commission. Beyond constitutional provisions, the trust of the Kenyan people remains paramount, and that trust has been badly eroded," he said.
He accused the commission of applying different standards to different elections, claiming it remained silent during violent by-elections in Mbeere North, Malava, Narok Township and Kasipul Kabondo, but had become unusually vocal over Ol Kalou, where he claimed the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) was facing electoral defeat.
"There was brutal violence in previous by-elections. There was voter bribery, intimidation and killings, yet the commission never considered postponing those elections," he said. "Why is Ol Kalou different?"
According to the former Deputy President, the constituency has remained largely peaceful, with only isolated incidents, which he blamed on government operatives rather than rival political supporters. He cited the July 1 confrontation at Royal Garden Hotel in Ol Kalou, where DCP officials claimed they were attacked by police officers and UDA supporters, saying reports were recorded at Ol Kalou Police Station but no action had been taken.
Mr Gachagua alleged that plain-clothes police officers had been deployed alongside hired gangs to provoke violence that could later justify postponing the election.
"The people of Ol Kalou are peaceful. Whatever violence has been witnessed has been perpetrated by the State," he claimed.
He urged the Inspector-General of Police to deploy only uniformed officers on polling day, arguing that plain-clothes security personnel had allegedly been used in previous by-elections to intimidate voters and opposition supporters.
'Abandoning official duty to campaign'
The former Deputy President also took issue with the deployment of the national government's political machinery into a single Constituency. He accused Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and heads of state corporations of abandoning their official duties to campaign for the UDA candidate while presiding over the distribution of government projects and alleged voter inducements.
Among those he named were Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo, Roads Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano, Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru, Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira, and Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga.
He alleged that state officers had openly distributed cash, mattresses, gas cylinders, water pipes and other items to influence voters, while simultaneously launching government projects during the campaign period.
"It is a miracle that the government's entire development agenda has crystallised in one constituency at exactly the same time as the campaigns," he said.
"We have seen cash handouts, mattresses, gas cylinders, water pipes, purchase of identity cards, police intimidation and voter bribery happening in broad daylight."
