Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has alleged that residents in Ol Kalou in Nyandarua County are being asked to hand over their national identity cards in return for free gas cylinders and government-branded mattresses. He said the move is intended to prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots ahead of the July 16 by-election.
In a statement posted on his X account on Tuesday, Gachagua claimed the alleged activity forms part of a wider effort to keep voters away from the upcoming poll.
He wrote: “Reports reaching me from Ol Kalou are that residents are being asked to surrender their identity cards in exchange for a free gas cylinder and a GoK-branded mattress. This is a scheme to deny you the opportunity and right to vote on the by-elections of 16th July 2026. “
Gachagua urged residents not to surrender their identification documents, saying the national ID remains crucial for voter verification during elections.
“Please don’t surrender your Identity Card to anyone. Let the government and UDA campaigners give you the gas cylinder and a GoK mattress,” he added.
He also encouraged residents to accept development projects or donations that had not reached Ol Kalou since independence. However, he warned them against trading away their constitutional right to vote.
“Let the government deliver even speed boats, transformers, bullet trains, water tanks, milk and potato coolers and all that has not been delivered to Ol Kalou since 1963. It is time! But, my great people of Ol Kalou, do not give away your voting right,” the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader stated.
His remarks came a day after the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum started distributing subsidized LPG gas cylinders to households in Nyandarua County, with the distribution centred on the Ol-Kalou constituency, as part of what the ministry described as a new phase in the government’s clean cooking programme.
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The ministry said it distributed 20,000 cylinders at a subsidized rate of Ksh1,500, reduced from the original price of Ksh5,500. Petroleum Principal Secretary Kello Harsama added that Nyandarua is now the sixth county in Kenya to benefit from the subsidized Mwananchi Gas initiative.
“Nyandarua is the 6th county in Kenya to benefit from the subsidised LPG programme, and Ol Kalou is the first constituency in Nyandarua to benefit from the programme and is among the first nine constituencies in the country to receive this support,” PS Harsama said.
The distribution also comes just days before the July 16 by-election in Ol-Kalou, as candidates step up their campaigns ahead of polling day. The constituency fell vacant after its former representative, David Kiaraho, died earlier in March 2026.
Several candidates are contesting the seat, but the race remains closely contested between Kamau Ngotho of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) and Samuel Nyaga of the UDA.
