On January 16, 2022, police officers used teargas to disperse rowdy youths who attempted to disrupt Deputy President William Ruto's rally at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi. This incident highlights the heightened tensions in the city ahead of the polls.
According to a report by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), Nairobi has been ranked top among the counties most likely to experience electoral violence ahead of the August 9 General Election. The report, released on May 31, 2022, also listed Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, and Mombasa as being prone to polls violence.
“Out of the 47 counties of Kenya, six are likely to experience electoral violence in the forthcoming General Election,” said Danvas Makori, the commission’s technical committee chairman. The report was based on a hotspot mapping exercise conducted by the NCIC to understand the peace and security situation in the country.
The report noted that Nairobi County, which is seen as the epicenter of political contestation in Kenya, is at the highest risk of experiencing electoral violence come August 2022. The survey also established that there is a lot of hate speech across the country, which is likely to trigger violence.
Historically, the months leading up to and after elections have been the most violent periods in Kenya’s post-independence history.
