Murkomen orders probe into Ol Kalou by-election violence

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says the government will investigate allegations of hooded armed men causing havoc during the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, warning that anyone found culpable will be arrested regardless of who deployed them.

Speaking in Trans Nzoia county after addressing the County Assembly and presiding over the official opening of the Wellness and Committee Services Centre, Murkomen said perpetrators of violence witnessed during the by-election would face the full force of the law.

Murkomen said the National Police Service had deployed enough officers to provide security during Thursday's by-election but maintained that claims of hooded armed individuals disrupting the exercise must be thoroughly investigated.

"These allegations of hooded persons who are causing havoc in Ol Kalou must be investigated thoroughly, and anyone culpable must be arrested, regardless of what they were doing and who deployed them to Ol Kalou," Murkomen said.

He added that investigations would not spare security officers if they were found to have acted unlawfully.

"Whether they were deployed by the Inspector General and they went and misbehaved, they must be dealt with and dealt with with finality," he said.

Murkomen reiterated that the government would not tolerate election-related violence anywhere in the country.

"We are not condoning violence in any way, whether it was Ol Kalou, whether it was Mbeere, whether it was Narok and whether it is in the next elections," he said.

"We want to assure the people of Kenya that we are not going to condone that kind of thing. Any such actions must be investigated, and perpetrators brought to court immediately."

His remarks came after chaos erupted outside Ol Kalou Comprehensive School polling station during the parliamentary by-election, disrupting what had largely been a peaceful voting exercise.

Earlier in the day, Star photojournalist Enos Teche was attacked while covering the unrest outside the polling station.

He sustained injuries and lost his camera during the assault.

Radio Africa Group condemned the attack, describing it as a threat to press freedom and calling on police to swiftly investigate the incident, arrest those responsible and guarantee the safety of journalists covering elections.

Despite the disruption, voting continued under heightened security before polling officially closed at 5 pm.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) subsequently commenced vote counting at polling stations, with presiding officers tallying ballots in the presence of candidates' agents, observers and accredited media before transmitting the results to the constituency tallying centre.

The Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election attracted significant political interest, with security agencies maintaining a heavy presence throughout the day as authorities monitored the exercise.