Morara Kebaso cautions against normalising goons in elections
By Faith Lagat, November 29, 2025Political activist Morara Kebaso has cautioned against the growing trend of deploying armed youth protected by police to influence elections, describing it as a dangerous precedent that could plunge Kenya into a violent economy.
In a widely shared X post on November 29, 2025, Kebaso linked the chaos witnessed during Thursday’s by-elections to state-sanctioned thuggery.
“When you allow the use of armed youth in the form of goons protected by police to manage politics, the message to every politician in the country is clear. Everyone should have their own goons for their own protection. You are creating an economy of violence,” he wrote.
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Kebaso further added, “A new industry that will employ many jobless youth. And goons become gangs; the gangs become rebel armies, which can overpower the security of the state, supported by tribalism and Western influence for control of territory and extraction of minerals. You are playing with a grenade the way a child plays with a toy.”
Violence disrupts by-elections
Kebaso’s remarks came just 48 hours after violent incidents disrupted polls in several constituencies, including Malava, Kasipul, Kabuchai, Mbeere North, and Nyansiongo wards.
Vehicles were torched, polling agents attacked, gunshots fired, and candidates intimidated, often in the presence of security officers. Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa accused state agencies of colluding with hired groups.
“To the state-sponsored goons and the compromised NPS official and IEBC officials who facilitated the attack… you shall be held to account!” he posted on November 27.
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Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni described the violence as a possible dress rehearsal for 2027.
“Is this the blueprint the government is preparing for 2027? Today’s by-elections are a clear rehearsal for what lies ahead,” Kioni stated.
Threat to democracy
Kebaso, who has faced intense online attacks himself, revealed the personal toll of activism. In a November 28 post, he said government-aligned forces hired youth bloggers to destroy his reputation after he exposed alleged public fund theft.
“I was trolled to depression. A man who had worked hard all his life for his property was painted as a conman, a beggar and a swindler. I had to leave my family WhatsApp group. I stopped going to church because I felt the world saw me as a fraud,” he confessed.
He warned that sustained attacks risk hardening young leaders: “With time, soft hearts harden, and those who care stop caring. That is how promising transformational leaders become violent and corrupt.”