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Salutary lessons for Kenyans from last week's mini polls

President William Ruto's aid Farouk Kibet addresses Malava residents during homecoming of UDA party Leonard Shimaka at Elunyinya village in Malava on 26, 2025. Shimaka conceded defeat and said he will rally behind David Ndakwa who won UDA nominations.[Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Depending on one’s political sympathies, last week’s by-elections were either a model of orderly democracy or an exercise doomed from the start.

Cast as a proxy battle between President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza coalition and factions allied to his estranged former deputy Rigathi Gachagua, the contests offered less of a test of local loyalties than a snapshot of battlelines drawn between the political elite. 

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