With just days to the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, Linda Mwananchi has withdrawn from planned campaign activities in the constituency, saying it does not want its presence to be used as a reason to interfere with the July 16 vote.
The group announced on Saturday, July 11, that it had cancelled its Sunday rally in Ol Kalou and would instead hold its engagements in neighbouring Nyahururu Town. It said the decision followed what it described as intelligence of an alleged plan involving the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the current administration to derail the by-election.
According to Linda Mwananchi, there was an alleged scheme to trigger violence during its visit to Ol Kalou before using the unrest as grounds to postpone the election.
The group claimed police officers operating without uniforms, alongside armed groups drawn from Kiambu, Murang'a and Nakuru counties, had been positioned along the route its convoy was expected to use with the aim of provoking a confrontation.
"Part of these plans include planned violent attacks on the Linda Mwananchi team during their engagements in Ol Kalou. Police squads without uniform and goons have been mobilized from parts of Kiambu, Muranga and Nakuru, and deployed to attack the Linda Mwananchi convoy along the trail during their tour of Ol Kalou. The strategy is to use Linda Mwananchi acts of self- defense against violent attacks as the excuse to declare a state of siege, necessitating the postponement of the by-election," the group's statement partly read.
Linda Mwananchi said it would not hold any activities in Ol Kalou from Sunday until after residents vote on July 16, maintaining that staying away would remove what it called any opportunity to justify delaying the election.
"As we believe that holding the by-election without any delay and defeating the UDA kakistocracy is the overwhelming desire of the people of Ol Kalou and Kenyans at large, Linda Mwananchi will instead tour Nyahururu tomorrow and render the nefarious and sinister plans by IEBC and the Ruto kakistocracy impossible to achieve," it added.
The announcement came barely a day after Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua urged Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata and Linda Mwananchi to keep off the Ol Kalou campaigns.
Speaking at the DCP headquarters in Nairobi on Friday, July 10, Gachagua said the campaigns were under the party's Nyandarua leadership and should remain a local exercise.
He added that while Linda Mwananchi was free to carry out its own political activities, it had no role in the DCP campaign and warned that its involvement at the final stage could confuse voters.
The parliamentary seat became vacant following the death of David Kiaraho, who was serving his third term as the area's representative in the National Assembly.
Although a number of candidates expressed interest in the seat, the contest has narrowed to DCP and UDA, turning the by-election into a closely watched political battle between President William Ruto and Gachagua.