DCP leaders: we will not succumb to intimidation, attacks by State ahead of Thursday's by-election

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**DCP leaders during the party's final campaign rally at the Arboretum grounds in Ol Kalou town on Monday, ahead of Thursday's parliamentary by-election.** [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Lawmakers allied to the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) have said that they will not succumb to intimidation by the state following an attack orchestrated on East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Kanini Kega on Monday night.

The members of Parliament who spoke yesterday after Kega recorded a statement at the Oljororok police station also vowed to sustain their presence in Ol Kalou as well as protect their votes come election day Thursday.

Manyatta MP John Mukunji, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, Kiambu Senator Karungu Thang’wa and EALA MP Kega accused police officers of being behind Monday’s attack, claiming that it was a ploy to scare them out of Ol Kalou ahead of the decisive Thursday mini-poll.

Resolute and unfazed, they told off the President William Ruto-led UDA proponents, simultaneously calling for justice.

“We all have a country to protect but we are not going to allow any intimidation. If you (President Ruto) thought you were going to intimidate MP Kihara, MP Mukunji and me, we are not going to allow it. We are going to stay here and protect the votes that we have worked for so much, having camped here for the last sixty days,” stated Kanini Kega shortly after he recorded the statement.

MP Mukunji alleged that the few cases of violence that had been witnessed in Ol Kalou had been put in motion by police officers who had now turned into hired goons.

“According to the Constitution, it is clear how the police get their command and that they should not engage in political interference. The biggest threat to free and fair elections in the by-election and in the coming general election is plain-clothed officers who are unidentifiable and using unmarked vehicles. The plain-clothed officers are the goods we are talking about. I urge you police officers that before you execute any command for political interests, remember that you were employed to serve and protect the lives of Kenyans,” Mukunji said.

MP Kihara, on her part, was adamant that the use of force and violence by their rival camp amounted to the last kicks of a dying horse, given that UDA had sensed defeat in the forthcoming by-election.

“There is the ruling directing that police officers should not wear masks and should always identify themselves...we are going to stay here and if they want to kill us let them do so but to what end? It is here for everybody to see that UDA has lost it. I wish the President would just accept that this is where UDA was birthed and this is where we will bury it. We are the ones who campaigned for UDA but I’m now saying I’m so sorry for campaigning for a government that will kill its own people,” remarked the lawmaker.

Senator Thang’wa added, “We are so determined to make sure that come August 2027, William Ruto will no longer be President. For now, let them continue attacking us and doing what they have to do but after we win the elections, we are going to come for him and those propagating the violence. But we will do it according to the law. It cannot be that they go around killing and abducting people and think they will not be held accountable.”

UDA’s Parliamentary seat candidate Samuel Muchina, however, dismissed the claims by the lot that the state was behind the attack, claiming that the DCP leaders were out seeking to get sympathy votes. He also poked holes into MP Kanini Kega's account of what transpired, questioning where his security detail was at the time of the alleged attack.

“I am convinced that they are doing so to seek sympathy votes from the public. If indeed they were attacked, I urge them to go report to the police and let the investigative authorities unearth who was behind the attack. We know that during this electioneering period, people will do anything to get votes and especially sympathy votes. The people of Ol Kalau are very peaceful and I urge them to maintain the peace as we go to the ballot on Thursday.”

On Monday, EALA MP Kanini Kega claimed he narrowly survived an armed attack, alleging that security officers chased his vehicle and opened fire before he and his team fled to safety.

In a video shared by Kanini, the former Kieni MP said he escaped the alleged attackers and took refuge in a nearby house, where he remained temporarily safe as he assessed the situation.

"Kenyans, you can see I'm under attack. I've been chased by armed police officers. They pointed guns at me. We were only able to escape," Kega said in the recording.

The legislator claims he was pursued by armed police officers from Ol Kalou to Kasuku, where he abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot into a nearby house.

More than three vehicles carrying armed officers chased him while repeatedly pointing firearms at him, he alleges.

Lawyer Ndegwa Wahome, who was present at the scene, corroborated the account, saying officers turned on Kega's vehicle after failing to find him.

"The officers used the butts of their guns to destroy the vehicle," said Wahome, adding that a broken rifle butt had been handed to the officer commanding station at Kasuku police station.

Kega's allegations come at the height of rising insecurity linked to the campaign period, with politicians accused of hiring goons to infiltrate opponents' events.

Last week, People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua condemned an attack on her convoy at Gatoto Primary School in Mukuru kwa Reuben, alleging police failed to provide security despite a High Court order.

"Today's events are not merely about Gatoto Primary School," said Karua, adding, “They raise a broader national question about whether Kenyans can continue to rely on public institutions to enforce court decisions impartially and protect those exercising their constitutional rights."

On Sunday, July 12, rival groups of youths clashed outside St Stephen ACK Cathedral in Kisumu during a fundraising service attended by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Siaya Governor James Orengo, leaving two dead.