Nairobi — The Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) has secured a resounding victory in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, with Sammy Douglas Kamau Waweru overwhelmingly defeating his rivals in a contest widely seen as a key test of political influence in the Mt Kenya region ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Returning Officer Antony Njiraine declared Kamau the duly elected Member of the National Assembly for Ol Kalou Constituency after he garnered 35,440 votes in the by-election held on July 16, 2026.
Kamau, who contested on the DCP ticket, defeated United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Samuel Muchina Nyagah, who finished a distant second with 5,450 votes, handing the ruling party one of its heaviest electoral defeats in recent by-elections.
Jubilee Party candidate Wilson Mwaniki Kigwa came third with 198 votes, followed by Stephen Wanyoike Waithaka of the National Liberal Party (NLP) with 103 votes. Progressive Movement (PM) candidate Timothy Kamau Kariuki garnered 51 votes, Edwin Kariiri Muchiri (PNU) received 28 votes, Abdifatah Hussein Abdullahi (FPK) secured 19 votes, Edward Mathenge Mwaniki (KMM) got 16 votes, while Rachael Wangui Njoroge of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) finished with 11 votes.
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The victory capped an intense and highly charged campaign that transformed the Nyandarua constituency into one of the country's most fiercely contested political battlegrounds. Both the Kenya Kwanza administration and the opposition deployed senior political leaders to campaign for their preferred candidates, with the outcome viewed as a crucial indicator of the shifting political landscape in the vote-rich Mt Kenya region.
The by-election attracted national attention as it became a direct contest between the opposition-backed DCP and President William Ruto's UDA, with political analysts describing it as a referendum on the government's popularity in the region and an early pointer to the 2027 political race.
According to the IEBC, 73,480 voters were registered in the constituency, with 41,656 ballots cast, translating to a 57 per cent voter turnout.
Voting on Thursday proceeded peacefully in most polling stations, although the exercise was marred by isolated incidents of violence in parts of Ol Kalou town. Armed gangs disrupted voting, clashed with rival groups and assaulted several journalists covering the election, prompting condemnation from media organisations, civil society groups and political leaders, who called for investigations and prosecution of those responsible.
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Security was heightened throughout the exercise, with police escorting ballot boxes from polling stations across the constituency to the tallying centre at Ol Kalou Senior School after the close of voting. Hundreds of residents lined the roads and accompanied the convoy as election materials were transported under heavy security for counting and verification.
The IEBC had earlier reported that polling stations opened on schedule and that voting was progressing smoothly, with turnout reaching more than 38 per cent by early afternoon before rising to 57 per cent by the close of polling.
Following the declaration of results, the electoral commission thanked the people of Ol Kalou for participating in the democratic process and commended all stakeholders who contributed to the conduct of the election.
"IEBC thanks the voters of Ol Kalou Constituency, candidates, political parties, election officials, security agencies, observers, the media and all stakeholders for contributing to a peaceful and orderly electoral process," the commission said.
Kamau's emphatic victory gives DCP a significant parliamentary foothold and is expected to reshape political calculations in the Mt Kenya region. The result is also likely to intensify competition between the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition and the opposition as both sides begin positioning themselves for the 2027 General Election, with Ol Kalou emerging as one of the clearest indicators yet of changing political loyalties in the region
