SAM'S SENSE: Gimose - some sense

Charles Gimose a member of parliament of thirteen years asked them to quote, “wakati mtakuwa kwa polling stations, jaribu mfanye ukarabati wa hali ya juu”, and he said a few other things in his local dialect as the audience responded, “lazima apite”.

There was laughter and low-tone murmurs, perhaps as the rest of the audience processed what exactly the legislator who is also a lawyer was saying. Charles Gimose is a lawyer of more than 40 years, with masters of law from an American University.

After saying what he did, the few days that followed saw a few leaders call out the MP, with those in the higher ranks of the UDA party defending that they are a democratic party and government. Those opposed to the ruling party took note of the sentiments, and rehashed the claims that current regime intends to rig the election.

Now, it is not a matter of who is right or wrong. It is not a matter of who is mobilizing whom for what. It is more about the damage that politicians bring to Kenyans.

You see, today, Kenyans are living the consequences of their decisions in 2022. As they trooped to their polling stations on the early morning of that Tuesday, armed to choose their leadership while also teaching a lesson to those they thought had taken them for granted. And such are elections the world over.

But when those elected to make laws, oversight executive offices and bodies; when they begin a campaign to tarnish the credibility of elections; when they call upon their grassroots supporters to mobilse and find tricks and tactics of how to fix an electoral outcome, what exactly do they want Kenyans to believe?

And then you check the record and find that MP Gimose has only spoken four times in the current parliament, since 2022. Two of those times are this year 2026, meaning that between September 2022 and December 2025, he spoke two times on the floor of the National Assembly.

The record according to Mzalendo Trust that tracks activity by MPs in the house, shows that he has voted five times since September 2022, including two times in support of the Finance Bill 2023 and the Finance Bill 2024.

And yes, speaking or voting on the floor of the house is not exhaustive is assessing the diligence of an MP. But it can be indicative, which makes the MPs performance telling.

For a lawyer to ignore the great opportunity available to a ranking member in the house but go ahead to call on party delegates to look for rigging tactics, he must understand something so well – that the vote outcome at the polling station is final and therefore critical. 

And so when the clarion call is for tricks to be sought, what are the rest of Kenyans supposed to do?

In a country where suspicion defines our public affairs, is it fair to keep raising it? Even if that is the plan by some quarters, what value does it offer to publicly declare it?

You know what it can do?

It can suppress voter participation in elections. It can give the illusion that this is already decided. It can provoke candidates who lose an election fairly to believe they were rigged out. And then what follows?

19 years ago, Kenyans killed each other defending their votes in the 2007 presidential election. There were all manner of allegations of rigging from across the political divide.

In the end, a commission called to review the 2007 election concluded that it could not tell who won that election. This is a scar that remains on the country’s soul.

For elected officials to spread the gospel of fear, the gospel of make-believe, it is reckless and irresponsible to believe that a country only exists for elections. 

But then, should political parties pursue accountability for irresponsible remarks from those in their ranks?

When recklessness is overly allowed to take root at public podiums, political parties must be reminded that they are public institutions funded by taxpayers. They owe a duty of care and responsibility to Kenya and Kenyans.

To condemn and let live is not sufficient. Calling people to rig an election cannot count for freedom of expression. It is senseless.

That’s my sense tonight.