POLITICAL RALLIES MUST NEVER BECOME DEATH TRAPS
Campaigns and political rallies are a legitimate part of democratic life. They give citizens an opportunity to assemble, express political opinions, support candidates and participate in shaping the future of their country.
But that democratic right becomes meaningless when citizens cannot return home safely after exercising it.
The deaths of 19-year-old Brandon Ongoro and 20-year-old Joseph Shikuku, who were reportedly attacked and killed after attending the Linda Mwananchi rally, should force the country to confront a disturbing reality: political intolerance, organised goonism, robbery and insecurity are increasingly threatening the right to participate in public life.
Brandon and Joseph were not politicians. They were young Kenyans going about their lives. Their greatest mistake, if one can call it that, was exercising their democratic freedom and subsequently walking home.
Two young lives have been extinguished. Two families have been left to confront an unbearable loss. Two futures that should have unfolded before them have been violently cut short.
This cannot become normal.
RALLIES ARE NOT BATTLEFIELDS
Political competition must never be reduced to a contest of who can mobilise the most intimidating gangs, disrupt opponents or terrorise citizens.
There is a dangerous culture developing around Kenyan politics where political mobilisation is sometimes accompanied by gangs, hired crowds, thieves and individuals who exploit moments of political activity to attack, rob and intimidate innocent people.
Such behaviour has no place in a democracy.
A political rally should end with political arguments—not hospital admissions, funerals or missing young people.
Whether someone attends an opposition rally, a government rally or a rally supporting a candidate one disagrees with, their life remains equally valuable.
Democracy cannot mean that your safety depends on which political meeting you attended.
THE STATE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
The responsibility for protecting citizens cannot be outsourced to political parties, rally organisers or communities.
The State has a constitutional obligation to protect life, maintain public order and ensure that citizens can exercise their fundamental freedoms without fear.
The police must therefore treat violence surrounding political gatherings as a serious security matter; not merely as another political confrontation.
Gangs masquerading as political supporters must be identified and contained. Criminals who use rallies as opportunities to rob and attack citizens must face the law. Those who organise, finance or deploy violence must also be investigated and held accountable.
And accountability must not depend on political affiliation.
A thug supporting our side is still a thug. A thief wearing our party colours is still a thief. A political operative who facilitates violence must not be shielded because of his connections.
That is what the rule of law demands.
POLITICAL TOLERANCE IS NOT WEAKNESS
Kenya must rediscover the principle that political opponents are not enemies.
We can disagree passionately without murdering one another. We can campaign aggressively without unleashing gangs. We can compete for votes without turning neighbourhoods into zones of fear.
Political parties and candidates have a particular responsibility here. They must publicly condemn violence, discourage the mobilisation of criminal elements and ensure that their supporters understand that political differences must be settled through persuasion and the ballot—not through fists, knives, stones, clubs or intimidation.
Leaders cannot preach peace on television while tolerating violence on the ground.
THE YOUTH MUST NOT BE TURNED INTO POLITICAL WEAPONS
Kenya’s young people deserve better than being recruited into political gangs and then abandoned when violence erupts.
Young Kenyans should be organising around jobs, education, housing, healthcare, dignity and economic opportunity—not being paid to intimidate another young Kenyan because they support a different candidate.
The exploitation of youth unemployment for political violence is one of the most cynical forms of political manipulation.
The young people who are sent into the streets to fight are often the same young people who end up in hospital, prison or the grave.
Meanwhile, those who sent them remain safely behind the gates.
JUSTICE FOR BRANDON AND JOSEPH
The deaths of Brandon Ongoro and Joseph Shikuku deserve more than condolences.
Their families deserve answers.
The circumstances surrounding their deaths must be thoroughly investigated, those responsible identified and the perpetrators brought before the courts.
There must be no selective justice, no political protection and no convenient disappearance of evidence.
Their right to life did not end because they attended a political rally.
Their deaths should also serve as a warning to the entire country.
If Kenyans cannot attend a political gathering, express their views and return home safely, then something fundamental in our democracy is broken.
We must demand a Kenya where political competition produces ideas rather than bodies; where rallies produce debate rather than fear; and where young people can walk home without wondering whether political intolerance or criminality will be waiting for them.
The State must act. Political leaders must act. Communities must reject goonism. And Kenyans must refuse to normalise political violence.
Brandon and Joseph deserved to grow old.
They deserved the chance to build families, pursue their dreams and contribute to this country.
Instead, their families are preparing to bury two young men whose lives had barely begun.
May their deaths strengthen and not weaken the national demand for justice, political tolerance and the protection of every Kenyan life.
Rest in peace, Brandon Ongoro and Joseph Shikuku.