Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has issued demands to the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, over the deployment of police officers in the Thursday, July 26, by-election in Ol Kalou constituency.
In a letter to IG Kanja on Wednesday, July 15, Gachagua demanded that all the officers deployed to the constituency be in police uniforms and display their service numbers.
The DCP party leader also insisted that the officers should not be hooded and use clearly marked police vehicles.
“The 2,000 Police Officers deployed must be uniformed, they must display their service numbers, they must not be hooded, and they must use clearly marked police vehicles,” read the letter in part.
The former DP described the deployment of over 1,000 police officers in the Ol Kalou by-election as unprecedented.
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Gachagua warned that if any violence occurs in Ol Kalou during the Thursday mini polls, IG Kanja and the police will be to blame.
“If any violence occurs in Ol Kalou, a peaceful constituency, it is your fault and your police. With such an historic number, there should be no iota of electoral violence whatsoever.
"With 2,000 police officers, there should be no violence unless it is caused by the officers themselves,” Gachagua stated.
The former DP also alleged that some of the deployed officers have instructions to disrupt the voting process.
According to Gachagua, the officers have been directed to intimidate party agents, interfere with vote counting and ensure the UDA candidate is declared the winner.
“The contingent of the GSU officers and anti-stock theft platoons deployed by yourself have instructions to ensure that might there be public disorder after the will of the people is overturned, they should quell it with a brute force never witnessed in the history of Kenya,” he alleged.
Further, Gachagua asked the police IG to use the Ol Kalou by-election as an opportunity to restore his public image.
He urged IG Kanja to order the immediate withdrawal of all non-uniformed police officers allegedly deployed to Ol Kalou.
In addition, Gachagua reminded IG Kanja to take note of the provisions of Section 12 of the Election Offences Act, which prohibits the use of national security organs to influence electoral outcomes.
“Finally, take note of the Election Offences Act, section 12 on the Use of national security organs,” the former DP added.
On Tuesday, IG Kanja announced that more than 1,000 police officers have been deployed to provide security during the Ol Kalou by-election.
Kanja said the deployment included officers from various agencies within the NPS, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the General Service Unit (GSU), and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit.
He confirmed that regular police will be deployed at polling stations and explained their core mandate.
"Police officers have been adequately deployed to 114 polling stations in Ol Kalou as per the standard procedures. This means that we will have a minimum of two police officers per polling station."
"Their work will be to safeguard the voting materials, the voting exercise itself, while offering adequate security to ensure that the election officials perform their duties well and unhindered," Kanja stated.
The Police IG added that there would be an additional 14 riot police on standby to address any disruptions in the election process.
