Wahome Thuku faults Gachagua over letter to IEBC on Ol Kalou voter rigging fears
By David Nthua, July 15, 2026Lawyer Wahome Thuku has faulted the Democracy for the Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua for publicly raising extensive vote-rigging concerns ahead of the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election.
Thuku warned that Gachagua’s letter to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission could later be used as evidence in an election petition, including against a DCP candidate declared the winner.
“Avoid complaining too much about rigging before an election is conducted. More so in a long open letter,” Thuku said.
“Your candidate could still win, and a stranger files a petition. Your pre-election complaints now become the evidence to nullify the election.”
Gachagua, a former deputy president, wrote to IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, claiming there was a plan to interfere with the Ol Kalou by-election scheduled for Thursday, July 16, 2026.
Thuku warns DCP over election petition
Thuku said evidence of electoral malpractice could lead to the nullification of an election, regardless of the party responsible or the candidate declared the winner.
“Remember, any evidence of rigging leads to nullification of the election regardless of who rigged or who won,” he said.
He cited the 2007 Starehe parliamentary election involving Margaret Wanjiru and Maina Kamanda as an example of how pre-election statements could return to hurt a winning candidate.
According to Thuku, Wanjiru publicly complained about voter harassment, bribery and fake ballot papers when she believed she was losing the election. She was later declared the winner, but Kamanda challenged the result.
“Kamanda filed a petition and used Wanjiru’s own media statements as evidence of rigging,” Thuku said.
“She tried to spin her narrative that she was talking of the rigging of the presidential election and not the parliamentary one. It didn’t work. The election was nullified.”
Wanjiru later retained the Starehe seat after defeating Kamanda in the subsequent by-election.
Gachagua questions IEBC neutrality
In his letter, Gachagua accused IEBC of bias and demanded assurances that the Ol Kalou poll would be free, fair, credible and verifiable.
He asked Ethekon to confirm that agents’ badges would be issued on time and that all polling stations would open at 6:00 am.
Gachagua also sought assurances that party agents would be allowed to inspect ballot boxes, ballot papers and Kenya Integrated Election Management System kits before and after voting.
He further claimed that a meeting involving government and UDA officials had discussed delaying the opening of polling stations in DCP strongholds, issuing some voters with two ballot papers and deploying officers to interfere with counting.
The DCP leader did not provide independently verifiable evidence in the letter to support the claims.
Gachagua also challenged the planned use of the electronic voter register and asked IEBC to provide a complementary identification mechanism for voters whose biometric details could not be confirmed.
“You got a little opportunity, however, to prove yourself and your commission to the people of Kenya and the world that you are redeemable ahead of 10th August 2027,” Gachagua told Ethekon.
Thuku’s intervention places pressure on DCP to balance its campaign against possible electoral interference with the legal risks created by documenting claims before votes are cast.