Former LSK President Faith Odhiambo has issued a sharp warning over what she describes as a growing culture of electoral impunity and increasing intolerance toward dissenting political voices in Kenya.
Odhiambo states that Kenyans have recently witnessed public figures making brazen claims about election manipulation alongside threats directed at citizens who express opposing political views.
“Kenyans have recently witnessed brazen boasts about stealing elections and naked threats against citizens who dissent with certain political views. This trend indicates a disturbing pattern of the ruling elite growing increasingly intolerant with the very people it was elected to serve,” Faith Odhiambo said.
According to Odhiambo, this emerging pattern reflects a deeper and more troubling shift within sections of the political elite one that risks eroding constitutional democracy if left unchecked.
Constitutional Guarantees of Political and Civic Rights
At the centre of her argument is the Constitution, which she describes as clear and unequivocal on political and civic rights. It guarantees every citizen the right to free expression, peaceful assembly, and participation in elections whose outcomes must be credible and reflective of the popular will.
She warns that any public official who engages in conduct or rhetoric that undermines these principles is effectively breaching their oath of office and weakening institutional legitimacy.
Odhiambo places significant responsibility on key democratic institutions, particularly the IEBC Kenya and the NCIC Kenya. She argues that both bodies already possess the legal mandate and enforcement tools required to respond decisively to inflammatory political speech and conduct that threatens electoral integrity.
What is now required, she says, is visible and consistent action that restores public confidence.
Electoral Trust and Voter Confidence
She further notes that elections in Kenya are not merely procedural events but deeply emotional and historically charged processes shaped by past grievances and high public expectations.
When allegations of rigging or intimidation are made openly without institutional response, she warns, the result is a growing sense of public cynicism. This, in turn, fuels voter apathy and gradually weakens democratic participation.
Odhiambo cautions that Kenya is at a pivotal moment. She points to the country’s constitutional journey and the sacrifices made in pursuit of electoral reform, warning against any regression into a cycle of disputed elections and ethnic mobilisation.
“Kenya stands at a consequential moment. The country has come too far, paid too high a price in blood and grief and hard-won constitutional reform, to allow our democratic space be dragged back toward the darkness of disputed elections and ethnic mobilisation,” she said.
