This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
November 7, 2019, marked a dramatic day in Kibra Constituency, Nairobi, as residents cast their ballots in the parliamentary by-election. The by-election aimed to replace the late Ken Okoth, who passed away on July 26, 2019.
At Mashimoni polling station, a woman was caught stashing Sh200 notes in her bra, which she intended to use to bribe voters. The incident occurred in the presence of Jubilee MP Didmus Baraza.
Angry citizens then turned their wrath on the Jubilee MP, who was later whisked away. The by-election has been seen as a rehearsal for the 2022 General Election, pitting Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga against Deputy President William Ruto.
Reports also emerged that an IEBC poll clerk, who was scheduled to oversee the Woodley polling center, was arrested the previous night at a high-end city hotel. The DCI had been tracking the clerk for days, following suspicious M-Pesa payments running into hundreds of thousands.
The clerk had been receiving the payments from a Nairobi Jubilee MP, who was part of the team overseeing Mariga's campaign in Kibra Constituency. One of the officers was heard telling the clerk, 'Lazima utatuambia ni nani wengine unafanya nao kazi kando na Mheshimiwa'.
