Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has downplayed the opposition’s celebrations over recent Ol Kalou by-election victories, arguing that some of the seats they are claiming were never held by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the first place.

Speaking in Lafey, Mandera County on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, Duale singled out the Ol Kalou parliamentary seat, saying it was won by the late area MP on a Jubilee Party ticket and not by UDA, making it misleading for opponents to portray the outcome as a defeat for President William Ruto’s party.

“Ol Kalou was not even our constituency. The former Member of Parliament who passed on was a Jubilee candidate. It was not a UDA seat,” Duale said.

Why celebrate the results

Duale questioned why opposition leaders were celebrating the result as though they had defeated UDA or President Ruto.

“Haikuwa kiti ya UDA… Alafu wewe unaruka ruka kama umeshinda mtu, umeshinda Uhuru Kenyatta,” he posed.

Duale also cautioned against what he described as political chest-thumping over by-election results, noting that the Kenya Kwanza administration continues to enjoy support across different regions of the country, including Western, Nyanza, North Eastern, the Coast and Upper Eastern.

He further referenced Kenya’s divisive 2007 political experience, saying leaders should avoid returning the country to confrontational politics.

“That game, Hon. Wetang’ula knows it. We played that game in 2007. We are going to unite the people of Kenya, those who believe in the unity of our nation,” he said.

Ol Kalou by-election outcome

Duale’s remarks come amid heightened political competition following a series of by-elections that have seen opposition parties celebrate key victories and portray them as a sign of shifting political fortunes ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election was occasioned by the death of the area’s MP, who had been elected on a Jubilee Party ticket. Although Kenya Kwanza has sought to minimise the political significance of the outcome, opposition leaders have argued that the by-election results reflect growing public dissatisfaction with the government.

Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) candidate Sammy Douglas Waweru Kamau was declared the winner of the by-election after securing a commanding 35,440 votes, defeating United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Samuel Muchina Nyaga, who garnered 5,450 votes.

The results, announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after the vote counting on Thursday, July 16, 2026, saw Jubilee Party candidate Wilson Kigwa finish third. Kamau’s victory concludes a fiercely contested race that attracted national attention and was widely viewed as a political contest between President William Ruto’s UDA and the Rigathi Gachagua-led DCP.

“The Returning Officer, Antony Njiraine, declared Sammy Douglas Kamau Waweru of the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) duly elected Member of the National Assembly for Ol Kalou Constituency after garnering 35,440 votes in the by-election held on 16th July 2026. Samuel Muchina Nyagah (UDA) finished second with 5,450 votes,” the electoral body said.