Why Ol Kalou poll should alarm every Kenyan

DCP candidate Sammy Kamau Ngotho won the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The conduct of the Ol Kalou by-election deserves recognition. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) managed the technical aspects of polling professionally, allowing voters to cast their ballots and producing a result that has largely been accepted. That is good news for Kenya's democracy.

However, elections are judged not only by what happens on polling day but also by the environment in which they are conducted. The events before, during and after the vote raise difficult questions about the health of our constitutional order.