Residents with mattresses handed to them during the Ol Kalou campaignThe ruling UDA party has gone all out to win the Ol Kalou by-election, gifting residents various items, including mattresses, gas cylinders and boats.
As the battle enters its final stretch, with the July 16 by-election increasingly shaping up as a political do-or-die contest, the government is leaving nothing to chance.
While both UDA and DCP have mounted aggressive campaigns, it is the government's side that has gone furthest, deploying a combination of development projects, senior political figures and grassroots mobilisation in what has become one of the most fiercely contested by-elections in recent years.
The UDA campaign team, led by Senior Presidential Adviser Moses Kuria, is distributing household items, including mattresses, subsidised LPG cylinders, shoes for women and even boats.
This is in addition to the rapid launch and commissioning of projects across the constituency.
They describe the exercise as an economic empowerment programme.
"The people of Ol Kalou are going home smiling because what they asked for is finally being delivered," Kuria said.
"From Mirangine DC Headquarters in Githima, Mirangine Ward, families are collecting their subsidised LPG cylinders filled with gas. This is the kind of development the people of Ol Kalou asked for, and it is now being delivered."
Kuria dismissed criticism surrounding the distribution, saying residents had embraced the initiative.
"Those who spent their time saying the cylinders were substandard have been answered by the people themselves. The long queues and happy faces show that the people of Ol Kalou know what they want and they have chosen development over empty criticism.
"No more smoke-filled kitchens. No more cooking with firewood when there is a better option. This is real change that families can see and experience every day."
Nyandarua Woman Representative Faith Gitau has also been distributing blankets, foodstuffs and other household items.
"Since it is the cold season, I have brought blankets and food. There is rice, beans, porridge flour and many other items, including soap," she said during one of the campaign events.
Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria is also on record saying he had spent Sh1.2 million in a single day and that other leaders had their own allocations for the campaign.
The giveaways have sparked political backlash.
Jubilee Deputy Organising Secretary Pauline Njoroge on Tuesday accused the government of resorting to voter inducement in a constituency that overwhelmingly backed President William Ruto in 2022.
"During the 2022 General Election, Ruto received 78 per cent of the presidential vote in Ol Kalou. Today, this is the very constituency where he has now deployed senior government officials to bribe voters and literally buy votes by taking people's ID cards in exchange for mattresses and gas cylinders," Njoroge said.
"Women are even being given rubber shoes. He has gone a step further by taking them a train and boats. The only thing left now is a rocket to take the people of Ol Kalou on a tour of the moon before by-election day."
Njoroge further claimed that the government had deployed virtually every senior official from the Mt Kenya region to the constituency, arguing that the ruling party's campaign reflected its declining political fortunes.
"This is how dramatically Ruto's political fortunes have declined in just four years. A President who once enjoyed overwhelming support in this constituency now appears to believe that the path back to the people's hearts is through handouts."
The Ruto camp has, however, dismissed the criticism, insisting the projects were neither rushed nor campaign gimmicks.
Jubilee nominated MP Sabina Chege, who now supports the Kenya Kwanza administration, said many of the projects had been initiated by the late MP David Kiaraho and that the government was simply ensuring his legacy was completed.
"The projects you are seeing now, for instance the [Nyandarua] university, JM Kariuki Hospital and the stadia, were already there. For us as friends of Kiaraho, we are here to ensure his dream comes true," she said.
"We have very few months remaining. Whatever Kiaraho purposed to achieve by 2027 should be done."
Ndaragwa MP George Gachagua also defended the timing of the development projects, dismissing claims they were being rolled out solely because of the by-election.
"We engage in politics because of development. If this is the time development will come, let it be. If JM Hospital will be elevated to Level Five because of politics, that's why we are in politics," he said.
Two boats were delivered to the community at Mirangine Dam just eight days before voters head to the polls.
The by-election, occasioned by the death of long-serving MP David Kiaraho, has evolved into far more than a contest to replace a legislator.
It is increasingly being viewed as an early referendum on the political standing of the Mt Kenya region ahead of the 2027 General Election.
DCP has presented Sammy Kamau Ngotho, while UDA has rallied behind Samuel Muchina Nyagah, the former aide to Kiaraho.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
The Ol Kalou by-election has evolved into a high-stakes political showdown, with the Kenya Kwanza administration mounting a development and empowerment blitz to win the seat that was won by Jubilee in 2022. The opposition says the giveaways amount to voter inducement, while the government insists it is simply delivering long-promised projects. The outcome is widely seen as an early test of President William Ruto and DCP leader Rigathi’s political standing in the Mt Kenya region ahead of 2027.
