NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 10 – Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat has assured residents of adequate security ahead of the July 16 Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, warning that law enforcement agencies will act decisively against anyone seeking to disrupt the poll.
Lagat said the National Police Service has deployed sufficient security personnel to the constituency to ensure the election is conducted in a peaceful, free and secure environment.
“Anybody who is going to break the law will face the law. We have enough security in that particular area. There’s no space for anyone to organise criminal activities,” he said.
The Deputy Inspector General warned that individuals involved in violence, voter intimidation or any other election-related offences would be identified, arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
“Whoever is going to do that will definitely be on our police radar and will be arrested and prosecuted according to the law,” Lagat said.
His remarks came a day after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) warned that it could postpone or cancel the Ol Kalou by-election if escalating voter bribery and violence compromise the integrity of the poll.
Speaking during the launch of the 2022 Pre-Election Dispute Resolution Report on Thursday, IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon said the Commission would not hesitate to take drastic action if conditions on the ground remain unsuitable for a free and fair election. He also warned that candidates found culpable of electoral offences could face disqualification.
“If conditions are not favourable for IEBC to conduct elections there, we will either postpone or cancel the election altogether. We cannot operate under the kind of violence we are seeing,” Ethekon said.
However, speaking during a news conference on Friday, Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua criticised Ethekon’s remarks, accusing the State of orchestrating the incidents of voter bribery and violence cited by the electoral commission.
“Mr. Chairperson, how can you threaten to cancel an election because State officials are bribing people, yet you have the law to stop them? You have not summoned any of them; you have not ordered them out of Ol Kalou. Why do you want to punish the people of Ol Kalou?” Gachagua posed.
The Ol Kalou parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of the area’s immediate former MP, David Kiaraho, on March 29, 2026.