Police in Juja has issued a warning to parliamentary hopefuls in the upcoming Juja Constituency by-elections against holding physical meetings in their homes, hotels, churches, and schools.
Juja Sub-County police commander Dorothy Migarusha also warned the candidates against using vehicle caravans to campaign.
She warned that any aspirant caught will be arrested and charged with subverting Covid-19 mitigation measures as directed by the national government.
In a meeting with the 12 aspirants yesterday, March 28, along with officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Migarusha urged the aspirants to use social media and other digital platforms to campaign.
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Collage image of some of the Juja Parliamentary aspirants.
She stated that physical meetings would backtrack the government's efforts in the fight against Covid-19.
"We are not going to allow any political gatherings and this includes use of motor vehicle caravans, which most of the aspirants have been using to engage their supporters. They have been stopping in some markets to mingle with their supporters in uncontrollable ways," Migarusha stated.
A section of the candidates stated that the rules were too stringent arguing that it is impractical to reach all the voters through social media. They stated that a majority are illiterate and do not know how to operate smartphones.
National Democrats Party candidate Eunice Wanjiru appealed to have the rules relaxed to enable them engage voters.
"Door-to-door campaigns and meeting supporters one-on-one is the best strategy. We would like to appeal that each candidate be given a day to move around the constituency to sell their agenda," Wanjiru stated.
Ken Gachuma of the National Liberal Party opined that though the rules would inconvenience them, they would have to resort to social and mainstream media to popularise themselves.
"There is an urgent need to protect Juja residents from contracting the deadly virus that has continued to weigh down economies across the globe. We are ready to comply and the only avenue to reach voters now is the media," Gachuma stated.
Migarusha reiterated that police would be on high alert for any leader and his or her supporters contravening the set guidelines.
