If DCP loses the Ol Kalou by-election, it should not blame its opponents. It should first look in the mirror.
As someone who supports this movement, I am increasingly concerned that our campaign has become associated with confrontation instead of conviction. Instead of winning voters through ideas, we appear to be allowing conflict and tension to dominate the conversation. That is a dangerous political path.
Our young people are paying the highest price.
They are the ones who fill our rallies, defend our leaders and stand on the front line whenever political temperatures rise. Yet they are not shields, soldiers or disposable campaign assets. They are sons and daughters with families waiting for them to return home safely.
No political victory is worth risking their lives.
Leadership is not about creating the loudest headlines or the biggest political drama. It is about inspiring discipline, protecting supporters and giving people confidence that politics can be conducted peacefully.
The events witnessed at Royal Gardens should be a moment of reflection for DCP. Whatever one’s interpretation of what happened, no campaign should leave ordinary supporters exposed to danger. If our politics repeatedly ends in tension, then something is fundamentally wrong with our approach.
We have every constitutional right to criticize the government and campaign vigorously. But that right must be exercised responsibly. We cannot claim to be building a better Kenya while embracing tactics that leave our own supporters vulnerable.
There is an old saying: a wise builder does not burn his own house just to prove that smoke exists. Likewise, a political party should never pursue short-term attention at the expense of its own people.
Ol Kalou deserves a campaign built on ideas, respect and persuasion—not fear, confrontation or disorder.
If DCP truly wants to earn the trust of voters, it must reject any politics that puts supporters at risk. Elections come and go, but lives cannot be replaced.
That is the leadership the people of Ol Kalou deserve.
