Murang’a senator Joe Nyutu: Opposition victory was stolen in by-elections
By Kiprono Keileb, December 4, 2025Muranga Senator Joe Nyutu has stated that the recently concluded by-elections in several counties were marred by widespread malpractice, insisting that the Opposition did not lose fairly but was robbed of victory.
In the remarks made during the political talk show aired by a local television station on Thursday, December 4, 2025, while recounting what he witnessed in Mbeere North, one of the most contested constituencies, where UDA’s Leo Wamuthende was declared the winner amid growing political tension.
He said what he saw on the ground convinced him that the outcome did not reflect the real will of the people.
“The Opposition did not lose the by-election, victory was stolen, it was robbed because looking at Mbeere North where I was when the voting was happening last Thursday, everybody in this country who follows the news know that for example in Mbeere North there is a polling station where CS Ruku invaded accompanied by goons armed with grude weapons and plain clothes officers who were armed also, and he threw out in person our Opposition agents, what happened in that polling station, only CS Ruku can tell,” Nyutu said.
He stated that the violence, intimidation and heavy presence of state officials compromised the credibility of the process. Nyutu painted a picture of elderly voters pressured into supporting a government candidate under threats linked to social assistance programmes.
“The intimidations, the amount of money spent, and the violence in Mbeere compromised the election. Voters were told that if they did not vote for the government candidate, then their social protection money would be withdrawn. What do you expect of the old people in a raw set-up?” he said.
Nyutu accused the government of “relocating state power” into the by-election zones, arguing that the atmosphere was anything but free or fair.
“The presence of government, because government was basically transferred to Mbeere and Malava, that is the kind of malpractices,” he added.
He also criticised claims of voter assistance and alleged that some voters were compelled to take photos of their marked ballots to prove they had voted for a preferred candidate.
“The number of voters appearing in polling stations saying that they needed to be assisted, taking images of the votes, people were told to take pictures showing they have voted a government candidate to be paid some money, the buying of ID cards where young men and women were told to sell us your IDs up to Friday they will give them back to you,” Nyutu said.
The senator argued that despite all the alleged interference, those declared winners scraped through with very narrow margins.
“After all this, they emerge with a mere victory of about 400 votes,” he said.