Kenya doesn't need an election defined by suspicion

UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar.[File, Standard]

United Democratic Alliance Secretary General Hassan Omar's suggestion that the fingerprints of dead voters could be used in the 2027 General Election is the kind of remark no serious party official should make in public, in jest or not.

Whether by design or carelessness, this is taken as confirmation of the Opposition's long-standing suspicion that the ruling establishment intends to manipulate the vote in 2027.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Omar is suggesting that Ruto would come back by all means. In May, he said that just like Moi, Ruto would not be 'a passing cloud' and that he will serve he will serve two full terms.

Such statements are unfortunate as nowhere does the Constitution say that a president must compulsorily serve two terms. It is the voters, and not dead ones, who decide whether a president deserves a second term or not.

Sadly, Omar is not the only one to entertain such misguided and dangerous thoughts. In June 2025, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi told a home crowd that votes "must be full," and that if not, supporters would fill them up, before later attempting to walk the remark back.

Omar has similarly attempted to run away from his words by saying that is educated and was merely using a 'metaphor'.  But this wasn't a metaphor; it sounds more like what is known as foreshadowing in literature.

All in all, the question worth asking is whether these leaders are revealing something already decided, or simply speaking carelessly, without weighing what their words imply to a public already anxious about the credibility of the electoral process. Either possibility is disturbing. If the statements reflect actual planning, the country faces a serious threat to the integrity of its next election.

If they are merely loose talk by leaders eager to flatter the President, that carelessness is itself dangerous. The public cannot easily distinguish bravado from intent and need not wait to find out which it is before losing faith in the process altogether.

Kenya has been here before. Contested elections have previously cost lives and property, leaving divisions that took years to heal. Statements suggesting the vote count is already settled, whatever the ballots show, are the kind of tinder that turns a disputed result into open conflict. Leaders who make them, whether from the ruling coalition or the Opposition, bear responsibility for the consequences of the words they choose in public.

This is not a question of loyalty to any particular side. It is a question of whether the country can hold a credible election in 2027 without the process being poisoned in advance by the very people entrusted to safeguard it.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission, whose mandate exists for moments like this, has been conspicuously quiet. If it is to justify its continued existence, it must act, investigate these statements, and hold their authors to account, regardless of which side of the political divide they sit on. Unless it believes Omar's Kenya does not need another election defined by suspicion and grievance before a single vote is cast. With friends like Omar, Ruto doesn't need enemies.