Ensure Ol Kalou by-election is peaceful, free and fair

Tomorrow marks the culmination of two months of spirited political campaigns in the Ol Kalou constituency by-election. Finally, the voters will make their preference known at the ballot.

What has unfolded in Ol Kalou these past two months reads like a masterclass in electoral impunity. The UDA machinery descended on the constituency armed with tarmac, power poles, mattresses and subsidised gas cylinders - dangling development as bait for votes.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, whose main duty is to guard the sanctity of the vote, chose spectator status. It watched roads being tarmacked overnight and gas cylinders handed out like party favours, saying nothing until public fury forced its hand.

Even then, its response was a mere Sh1.5 million fine on Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia, promptly neutralised by a court order. A watchdog that barks only after the thief has left with the silverware is no watchdog at all.

IEBC now has one chance to salvage its credibility. Having flirted dangerously with the idea of postponing the exercise, feeding the Opposition's narrative of institutional bias, it must conduct tomorrow's vote with visible neutrality and zero tolerance for police intimidation.

This is not merely about Ol Kalou. It is a dress rehearsal for 2027, and the country is watching to see whether the referee can be trusted to officiate without a thumb on the scale.

Voters, too, carry a burden of restraint. Democracy's genius lies in this simple bargain; the majority gets its win, the minority gets its voice, and neither needs to draw blood over it.

There is no cause tomorrow that justifies antagonising a neighbour over a ballot paper. Importantly, police officers must conduct themselves professionally and refuse to be misused by interested political parties to unleash violence.

The vote must proceed peacefully and at the end of it, the counting should be transparent. The winner should accept victory with humility rather than triumphalism, and the losers should find the grace to concede, trusting that Kenya's electoral calendar always offers another contest. Ol Kalou has an opportunity to prove that Kenyan democracy, battered as it is, can still hold itself together.