Kalonzo accuses government of plotting to rig elections

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has claimed that the government is planning to rig the upcoming by-elections scheduled for Thursday, next week. 

Kalonzo claimed that there is glaring evidence pointing to the State's plan to manipulate the election process in favour of the perceived government candidates. 

He cited a flawed ballot paper printing process through an expired contract between the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and a Greek company, Inform Lykos (Hellas). 

This comes barely a day after IEBC received the first batch of ballot papers and statutory forms for the November 27, 2025,  by-elections. 

"Where is the transparency and accountability? Didn't we have to go and print in Greece? Could we use a government printer with everyone watching and spare the country the Sh27 million?" He asked. 

The opposition leader also questioned why the materials were transported on a passenger flight instead of a cargo plane, a decision, he said, raises eyebrows over the possibility of the items being tampered with. 

While receiving the items at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the early hours of Thursday, 20, the Commission Chairperson Erastus Ethekon, said 10 pallets of materials had arrived in the country, with 29 more expected in the evening, the same day.  

At the center of the election rigging plans, Musyoka alleged, is the Commission's Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan, who he claimed takes instructions from State House with the help of a former IEBC Commissioner attached to the President's official residence. 

"I happen to know that Mr Marjan, the chief executive of IEBC,  is working with Ruto’s political advisor, who was also a commissioner and is based in State House managing IEBC," he claimed.

The CEO has however denied claims of being used to manipulate election outcomes.

He also accused the State of bribing voters by manipulating them at a cost to sell their future. 

"In the rogue regime’s desperation to rig the forthcoming by-elections, they have directed voters to take pictures of their vote at the voting booth showing that they have indeed selected their preferred candidate and so as to collect not less than Sh5,000," he alleged. 

While describing the action as "a brazen attack on the very soul of our democracy," the former Vice President equated it to "buying of conscience of our people."

"It undermines the secrecy of the ballot, violates the law, and mocks the trust we place in our electoral system," he stated. 

Kalonzo's claims come against the backdrop of scrutiny against a section of government-allied leaders who had once admitted that there are plans to rig the elections.