{"id":146943,"date":"2026-07-16T06:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ol-kalou-by-election-uda-candidate-samuel-muchina-nyaga-alleges-voter-bribery\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T06:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:02:49","slug":"ol-kalou-by-election-uda-candidate-samuel-muchina-nyaga-alleges-voter-bribery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ol-kalou-by-election-uda-candidate-samuel-muchina-nyaga-alleges-voter-bribery\/","title":{"rendered":"Ol Kalou by-election: UDA candidate Samuel Muchina Nyaga alleges voter bribery"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 16 \u2013 UDA candidate Samuel Muchina Nyaga has alleged voter bribery in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, urging the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and security agencies to investigate the claims as voting continued across the constituency on Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nyaga, who cast his ballot at Huruma Primary School in Kaimbaga Ward at about 8.30am, said he had received reports from his campaign team that individuals were allegedly distributing money to voters near some polling stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have received reports from my people that there are individuals trying to bribe voters at some polling stations. I call upon the IEBC to investigate and take action against anyone attempting to influence voters so that we can have a free and fair election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The UDA candidate said he would formally report the allegations to the relevant authorities, insisting he preferred pursuing legal channels rather than making unsubstantiated accusations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a law-abiding citizen. If it requires reporting to the police, I will do so. I don\u2019t want to merely speak about it; I want the matter investigated and appropriate action taken,\u201d Nyaga said.<\/p>\n

His claims came a day after one of his campaign vehicles, which he said was transporting election agents, was allegedly torched by suspected goons in Mugumo.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther than the incident yesterday where my vehicle was burned, I have not witnessed any other major security incident today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the allegations, Nyaga praised the security arrangements put in place by the National Police Service, saying the deployment had helped maintain peace during the exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel security has been well organised today. Police officers are everywhere, manning the roads and polling stations. Apart from yesterday\u2019s incident, I have not encountered any insecurity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He urged eligible voters who had yet to cast their ballots to turn out in large numbers, saying a high voter turnout would strengthen the constituency\u2019s democratic mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoting is the constitutional right of every citizen. I encourage everyone who is still at home to come out and cast their vote. The turnout has been encouraging, but we would like to see as many people as possible participate in deciding who will represent Ol Kalou,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he would accept the outcome of the election, Nyaga said he would respect the will of the electorate while expressing confidence of victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am ready for the outcome because I know I am winning. But ultimately, the people of Ol Kalou will decide, and we shall respect their verdict,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nyaga is facing eight other candidates in the by-election, although the race has largely narrowed to a contest between him and Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) candidate Sammy Kamau Ngotho.<\/p>\n

The by-election, triggered by the death of former MP David Kiaraho, is widely viewed as the first major political test in the Mt. Kenya region since former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua\u2019s fallout with President William Ruto.<\/p>\n

Voting began at 6am across the constituency\u2019s 114 polling stations under heightened security, with more than 1,000 police officers deployed to maintain order.<\/p>\n

The exercise has, however, been slowed at several polling stations by delays in biometric voter verification using the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS), resulting in long queues and complaints from voters over prolonged waiting times.<\/p>\n

Results are expected later on Thursday after polls close at 5pm and ballot counting is completed at individual polling stations.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 16 \u2013 UDA candidate Samuel Muchina Nyaga has alleged voter bribery in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, urging the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and security agencies to investigate the claims as voting continued across the constituency on Thursday. Nyaga, who cast his ballot at Huruma Primary School in Kaimbaga Ward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}