Karen Nyamu: Ol Kalou voters rejected UDA because we overdid it
By Mabonga Makhanu, July 18, 2026Nominated Senator Karen Nyamu has said the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) may have lost the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election because its leaders overdid their campaigns by pouring in money and rolling out numerous development projects in an attempt to sway voters.
In a statement shared on Saturday, July 18, 2026, Nyamu likened the campaign to a man trying too hard to impress a woman with money instead of building a genuine connection.
According to the senator, while financial support is important, overreliance on money can create the impression of desperation and ultimately push people away.
“I know President Ruto wasn’t involved in the Ol Kalou campaigns. Not in strategy and not even in funding. What you saw was overzealous leaders who support the president doing everything they thought would work, falling over themselves trying to impress the boss,” she said.
Nyamu emphasised that Cabinet secretaries, members of Parliament and governors who campaigned in Ol Kalou did so on their own initiative, funding their activities and announcing development projects without the president’s involvement.
She suggested that the overwhelming display of resources may have backfired.
“And I can’t help but wonder, did we overdo it trying to win this Ol Kalou girl and end up giving desperate vibes instead? Desperation is repelling. When you pursue too aggressively, it creates the opposite effect. People still want to feel respected, not overwhelmed,” she added.
Nyamu said the Ol Kalou outcome should serve as a lesson for UDA leaders, arguing that campaigns should focus more on connecting with voters than overwhelming them with money and projects.
Old Kalou by-election results
This comes after the Ol Kalou by-election, where DCP candidate Sammy Douglas Kamau Waweru emerged victorious in a landslide.
The July 16, 2026, parliamentary by-election in Nyandarua County’s Ol Kalou Constituency saw Kamau, also known as Sammy Kamau Ngotho, of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), crush his rivals. \
He garnered approximately 35,440 votes, nearly seven times more than his closest competitor, Samuel Muchina Nyagah of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), who received around 5,450 votes.
Other candidates, including Wilson Mwaniki Kigwa of the Jubilee Party, managed only a few hundred votes each, with total valid votes surpassing 30,000 in the partial tallies reported. The seat had fallen vacant following the death of the area MP, David Njuguna Kiaraho.
Message from the Ol Kalou byelection
The outcome is being interpreted as a significant boost for former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s DCP and a major setback for President William Ruto’s UDA in the Mt Kenya region.
Campaigns were highly charged and expensive, marked by cash handouts, gifts, and promises of infrastructure projects. Despite heavy security deployment and isolated incidents of chaos at some polling stations, the voting and counting process concluded, paving the way for IEBC to declare Kamau the duly elected MP.
Ol Kalou by-election indication
Political observers see the result as an early indicator of shifting alliances ahead of the 2027 general election. Kamau has pledged to serve all residents of Ol Kalou regardless of political affiliation and promised to prioritise development and unity in the constituency. The win gives DCP its first parliamentary seat since the party’s formation.