Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has alleged that President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has already activated a plan to interfere with Thursday’s by-elections in Mbeere North, Malava, and Magarini constituencies.
Speaking during a press briefing on Wednesday evening in Nairobi, Gachagua—accompanied by former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka—claimed that a coordinated scheme was underway to manipulate results in the three key battlegrounds.
According to the two leaders, the state intends to deploy hired disruptors masquerading as election agents at polling centres. Their purported mission is to trigger chaos, creating windows of opportunity for government-aligned operatives to sneak pre-marked ballots into the ballot boxes.
The leaders also alleged that thousands of unserialised ballot papers had already been distributed in areas expected to witness fierce competition, in what they termed a deliberate plot to tilt the outcome.
“We have received credible intelligence that the serialisation of the 820,000 printed ballots was mishandled and inadequately inspected. This negligence has opened a dangerous loophole that could enable ballot stuffing through extra or unaccounted-for papers,” Kalonzo claimed.
He went on to allege that 30,000 pre-marked ballots had already been dispatched to targeted areas—Magarini, Malava, and Mbeere North—through compromised presiding officers.
“This strikes at the very core of electoral integrity,” he added.
The Opposition singled out Mbeere North as the main target, claiming that 15,000 pre-marked ballots had already been inserted into the constituency. Another 10,000 were allegedly delivered to Malava, a region where political competition between rival blocs is expected to be intense.
They further asserted that state-backed disruptors had been instructed to create deliberate commotion at polling stations, giving room for complicit IEBC officials to insert ballots already marked in favour of pro-government candidates.
The United Opposition also placed IEBC Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan at the centre of the alleged scheme, accusing him of playing a direct role in the operation.
“Violence is being prepared as a tool to frustrate this by-election. We therefore demand that the IEBC confront these challenges head-on. The Commission must assure Kenyans that it is not entangled with shadowy interests,” Kalonzo insisted.
Gachagua stated that the Opposition would deploy its own agents to every competitive polling station to monitor the entire process closely. He directed them to scrutinise every detail of the IEBC’s conduct throughout the voting exercise.
“We are asking the IEBC not to admit any unauthorised individuals into polling stations. No agent should be allowed to carry any form of weapon unless they are uniformed officers. We have instructed our agents not to permit any voting to begin until all agents are thoroughly frisked. Once that is done, voting can proceed,” Gachagua said.
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