A peek into the past general elections shows the treacherous routes some political contestants had to navigate in their quest for political power. Some of these monumental hurdles planted in the way of prospective members of parliament by their rivals, sometimes with the backing of state agents, are as hilarious as they are crude.
In the colonial days, the script was crafted by determining the
colonialists who had the powers to bar certain politicians from
articulating their ideologies in public.
This was happening as late as 1959 even as Britain prepared Kenya for independence and, on the other hand, continued holding Jomo Kenyatta in confinement even after he and the other five prominent freedom fighters convicted in Kapenguria had served their time.
Seven years later, when Kenyatta and his friend Oginga Odinga disagreed, resulting in the latter ditching the Kenya African National Union ( Kanu) in 1966 to form the Kenya People’s Union (KPU), major hurdles was planted in his way.
Speech ban
KPU was banned and prevented from participating in the 1969 general elections, leaving the field clear for Kanu.
Another classic case was that of populist Nyandarua North MP Josiah Mwangi (JM) Kariuki, who fell out of favour with Kenyatta after the president’s inner circle suspected him of harbouring ambitions of succeeding the head of state.
JM’s adversaries went to such great lengths to deny him a chance to air his views in public that they even banned him from talking during his family’s occasions such as birthday parties.
One such birthday party, which JM had scheduled for March 21, 1971, was cancelled at the eleventh hour by the State and a rally he had planned for January 1, 1972, was also called off at short notice.
JM’s problems escalated just before the 1974 General Election when all his campaign meetings were cancelled. Not satisfied with the blackout they had imposed on him, government functionaries also prohibited him from visiting his constituency during the campaigns.
Landslide win
In the meantime, his detractors led by Nakuru mayor Mburu Gichua had a field day in Nyandarua North, where they campaigned vigorously to ensure that JM lost. The voters, however, had other ideas and returned him to parliament with a landslide victory.
As fate would have it, his popularity and ability to overcome hurdles ultimately cost him his life.
When ‘strongman’ tactics failed, the government had many tricks up its sleeves as a former ambassador Francis Karuga Nganatha who dared stand against a pro-system man in Ndaragwa in 1983 found out.
Nganatha, who was relatively new to politics, had resigned from state-owned Panfood to oppose Kimondo Wagura but found mountains planted in his way.
“At first he was blamed for the drying up of Lake Olborossat because he had allowed farmers to tap its waters so that they could grow horticultural crops to sell to the parastatal he was heading,” recalls Wanjohi Nderitu, a journalist who covered the elections.
New District Officer (DO) 1 Fred Mwango was dispatched to Nyahururu as the returning officer agonised over what to do.
On the Election Day, the provincial administrators had been instructed to ensure that under no circumstances was Wagura to lose. As Mwango sought a solution, an innovative junior administrator came up with the perfect answer.
He went to the Nyandarua County Hall and after all the votes had been tallied, he read out the votes cast in favour of each candidate, starting with Nganatha, who had garnered the highest number.
As the hall erupted in jubilation, Nganatha was carried shoulder high by his jubilant supporters as they danced around the hall. When they trooped out, the administrator got the chance he had been waiting for: he declared that Wagura, the incumbent MP, had won and gave him the certificate.
Nganatha’s cheering supporters only learnt of this development when he came back to the hall to receive the certificate.
Earlier, during the same elections, fire spitting trade unionist Kimani Wanyoike also tasted a dose of strong medicine when he went to present his nominations papers to the district commissioner (DC) in Nyahururu.
“Throughout the campaigns, Wanyoike had been humiliated by DO George Lalaikipian for antagonising the government. I was at the DC’s office early to see what would happen when he brought his papers,” Wanjohi recollects.
Although the deadline was noon, Wanyoike was at the DC’s office at around 10am. However, he was prevented from entering the office by the DC’s secretary, who informed him that the boss had a visitor.
Time barred
After cooling his heels for two hours, Wanyoike finally stood to enter the DC’s office, but was surprised when the door was opened by a beaming Mwango, who informed him that he was time barred.
When the story of how Wanyoike had been deliberately delayed from presenting his nomination papers was published, the decision was rescinded, but he did not win the election for the die had already been cast.
In the nearby Laikipia West Constituency, former Cabinet minister GG Kariuki recounts in his book Illusions of Power: Fifty Years in Kenya Politics how a conspiracy by provincial administration hounded him out of office in 1983 after he was branded a traitor.
No dancing
At one point, Kariuki writes, a DO Mathew Kirui stormed his campaign rally in Rumuruti and ordered people to stop dancing for him. The administrator then proceeded to remove the Kanu banners decorating the podium.
A harsher treatment was to follow for during another rally in Marmanet, Kariuki claims he was instructed by a DC Newton Ambuya not to address the gathering in Kikuyu and instead use either English or Kiswahili.
Later Kariuki was to taste the wrath of Mwango, who deleted the name of his chief campaign agent from a list of accredited officials to visit polling stations.
Later, a telegram was written on the day of the election, September 26,1983, prohibiting any of GG’s agents from witnessing the counting of votes.
There was drama when some defied this order and went to the counting hall and police officers shot in the air to force them out. Kariuki’s challenger, Joseph Mathenge, was eventually declared the winner with 16,645 votes against the incumbent’s 8,996.
Pre-marked ballots
Similar tactics were used against veteran politician Masinde Muliro, who was at first banned from holding political rallies and then had to contend with newer rigging methods on the election day.
On the day of the elections, Muliro was shocked when ballot boxes stuffed with 14,000 pre-marked ballots were taken to the counting hall and tallied, ultimately denying him the Kitale East parliamentary seat.
The system threw everything at him, starting with splitting his constituency. He fended off bankruptcy charges while auctioneers hovered over his farms and businesses until he relented his quest to contest the newly created Cherangany parliamentary seat.
He had made the ‘mistake’ of winning the seat, but his victory was nullified immediately and he was forced out of the race by a combination of factors, leaving the way clear for Kipruto Kirwa in the subsequent by-election.
Half-hearted defence
However, one of the most unusual campaigning methods was adopted by Dawson Mwanyumba, the mercurial Taita Taveta MP, who was outraged when his relative, Juxon Shako opposed him in 1969. Shako defeated Mwanyumba, sparking off a row that lasted a decade.
Although Mwanyumba defeated Shako in the 1974 General Election, when the two relatives met again in 1979, the veteran politician had lost the will to fight. He half-heatedly defended the seat and told voters to vote for Mashengu wa Mwachofi.
According to his daughter, Mary Ndigha, as quoted in Kenyatta Cabinets, Drama Intrigue and Triumph, Mwanyumba succeeded in locking out Shako although he too lost the seat and retired from politics.
Such has been the road travelled by some of the political contestants in the last 50 years.
As you cast your vote tomorrow, let peace prevail so that 50 years from now, the echoes of our actions will be read with pride.
This was happening as late as 1959 even as Britain prepared Kenya for independence and, on the other hand, continued holding Jomo Kenyatta in confinement even after he and the other five prominent freedom fighters convicted in Kapenguria had served their time.
Seven years later, when Kenyatta and his friend Oginga Odinga disagreed, resulting in the latter ditching the Kenya African National Union ( Kanu) in 1966 to form the Kenya People’s Union (KPU), major hurdles was planted in his way.
Speech ban
KPU was banned and prevented from participating in the 1969 general elections, leaving the field clear for Kanu.
Another classic case was that of populist Nyandarua North MP Josiah Mwangi (JM) Kariuki, who fell out of favour with Kenyatta after the president’s inner circle suspected him of harbouring ambitions of succeeding the head of state.
JM’s adversaries went to such great lengths to deny him a chance to air his views in public that they even banned him from talking during his family’s occasions such as birthday parties.
One such birthday party, which JM had scheduled for March 21, 1971, was cancelled at the eleventh hour by the State and a rally he had planned for January 1, 1972, was also called off at short notice.
JM’s problems escalated just before the 1974 General Election when all his campaign meetings were cancelled. Not satisfied with the blackout they had imposed on him, government functionaries also prohibited him from visiting his constituency during the campaigns.
Landslide win
In the meantime, his detractors led by Nakuru mayor Mburu Gichua had a field day in Nyandarua North, where they campaigned vigorously to ensure that JM lost. The voters, however, had other ideas and returned him to parliament with a landslide victory.
As fate would have it, his popularity and ability to overcome hurdles ultimately cost him his life.
When ‘strongman’ tactics failed, the government had many tricks up its sleeves as a former ambassador Francis Karuga Nganatha who dared stand against a pro-system man in Ndaragwa in 1983 found out.
Nganatha, who was relatively new to politics, had resigned from state-owned Panfood to oppose Kimondo Wagura but found mountains planted in his way.
“At first he was blamed for the drying up of Lake Olborossat because he had allowed farmers to tap its waters so that they could grow horticultural crops to sell to the parastatal he was heading,” recalls Wanjohi Nderitu, a journalist who covered the elections.
New District Officer (DO) 1 Fred Mwango was dispatched to Nyahururu as the returning officer agonised over what to do.
On the Election Day, the provincial administrators had been instructed to ensure that under no circumstances was Wagura to lose. As Mwango sought a solution, an innovative junior administrator came up with the perfect answer.
He went to the Nyandarua County Hall and after all the votes had been tallied, he read out the votes cast in favour of each candidate, starting with Nganatha, who had garnered the highest number.
As the hall erupted in jubilation, Nganatha was carried shoulder high by his jubilant supporters as they danced around the hall. When they trooped out, the administrator got the chance he had been waiting for: he declared that Wagura, the incumbent MP, had won and gave him the certificate.
Nganatha’s cheering supporters only learnt of this development when he came back to the hall to receive the certificate.
Earlier, during the same elections, fire spitting trade unionist Kimani Wanyoike also tasted a dose of strong medicine when he went to present his nominations papers to the district commissioner (DC) in Nyahururu.
“Throughout the campaigns, Wanyoike had been humiliated by DO George Lalaikipian for antagonising the government. I was at the DC’s office early to see what would happen when he brought his papers,” Wanjohi recollects.
Although the deadline was noon, Wanyoike was at the DC’s office at around 10am. However, he was prevented from entering the office by the DC’s secretary, who informed him that the boss had a visitor.
Time barred
After cooling his heels for two hours, Wanyoike finally stood to enter the DC’s office, but was surprised when the door was opened by a beaming Mwango, who informed him that he was time barred.
When the story of how Wanyoike had been deliberately delayed from presenting his nomination papers was published, the decision was rescinded, but he did not win the election for the die had already been cast.
In the nearby Laikipia West Constituency, former Cabinet minister GG Kariuki recounts in his book Illusions of Power: Fifty Years in Kenya Politics how a conspiracy by provincial administration hounded him out of office in 1983 after he was branded a traitor.
No dancing
At one point, Kariuki writes, a DO Mathew Kirui stormed his campaign rally in Rumuruti and ordered people to stop dancing for him. The administrator then proceeded to remove the Kanu banners decorating the podium.
A harsher treatment was to follow for during another rally in Marmanet, Kariuki claims he was instructed by a DC Newton Ambuya not to address the gathering in Kikuyu and instead use either English or Kiswahili.
Later Kariuki was to taste the wrath of Mwango, who deleted the name of his chief campaign agent from a list of accredited officials to visit polling stations.
Later, a telegram was written on the day of the election, September 26,1983, prohibiting any of GG’s agents from witnessing the counting of votes.
There was drama when some defied this order and went to the counting hall and police officers shot in the air to force them out. Kariuki’s challenger, Joseph Mathenge, was eventually declared the winner with 16,645 votes against the incumbent’s 8,996.
Pre-marked ballots
Similar tactics were used against veteran politician Masinde Muliro, who was at first banned from holding political rallies and then had to contend with newer rigging methods on the election day.
On the day of the elections, Muliro was shocked when ballot boxes stuffed with 14,000 pre-marked ballots were taken to the counting hall and tallied, ultimately denying him the Kitale East parliamentary seat.
The system threw everything at him, starting with splitting his constituency. He fended off bankruptcy charges while auctioneers hovered over his farms and businesses until he relented his quest to contest the newly created Cherangany parliamentary seat.
He had made the ‘mistake’ of winning the seat, but his victory was nullified immediately and he was forced out of the race by a combination of factors, leaving the way clear for Kipruto Kirwa in the subsequent by-election.
Half-hearted defence
However, one of the most unusual campaigning methods was adopted by Dawson Mwanyumba, the mercurial Taita Taveta MP, who was outraged when his relative, Juxon Shako opposed him in 1969. Shako defeated Mwanyumba, sparking off a row that lasted a decade.
Although Mwanyumba defeated Shako in the 1974 General Election, when the two relatives met again in 1979, the veteran politician had lost the will to fight. He half-heatedly defended the seat and told voters to vote for Mashengu wa Mwachofi.
According to his daughter, Mary Ndigha, as quoted in Kenyatta Cabinets, Drama Intrigue and Triumph, Mwanyumba succeeded in locking out Shako although he too lost the seat and retired from politics.
Such has been the road travelled by some of the political contestants in the last 50 years.
As you cast your vote tomorrow, let peace prevail so that 50 years from now, the echoes of our actions will be read with pride.
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