Kenya could be pushed back into a cycle of election-related violence if political goons and ethnic profiling are allowed to take root ahead of the 2027 General Election, EALA MP David Sankok has warned.
Sankok said the rising cases of violence at political gatherings were a worrying sign as political parties and leaders intensify their preparations and positioning for the next election.
Speaking during an interview with Radio Generation on Friday, August 21, the legislator said the government has a constitutional duty to protect every Kenyan and their property, including citizens who support opposition parties.
“The situation is worrying. But the fact be told, the constitutional mandate to protect Kenyans and their property lies with their government, and if the government cannot protect its own citizen and their own property, people from the opposition included, then that government is failing.”
Sankok said Kenyans attending political rallies should not be forced to organise their own security, arguing that the government has both the resources and legal responsibility to keep citizens safe.
“There is no way you can expect an opposition person to have the constitutional mandate to protect themselves. It is the government that has the resources through our taxes, the constitutional mandate through legislation, and the systems and machinery, all fully funded by Kenyans, to protect all Kenyans, irrespective of their political persuasion.”
His remarks come amid renewed concerns over violence at political events as politicians begin positioning themselves for the 2027 polls.
Kenya has a long history of election-related violence, with the 2007-08 post-election crisis remaining the most serious example. More than 1,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced after disputed presidential election results triggered widespread violence.
The crisis also exposed the danger of political mobilisation that combines ethnic divisions with organised violence, leading to reforms aimed at preventing a repeat of the events.
However, Sankok said the continued use of political groups to disrupt rallies, coupled with ethnic profiling, could once again create a dangerous environment.
“It is a worrying trend when it comes to goons, especially goons laced with some ethnic profiling, because you remember in Rwanda it started by name calling of certain communities as cockroaches, profiling ethnic communities and tribes, and then in Kenya we had our own fair share of that ethnic profiling in 2007 for election violence, where there were political genocide mantra of 41 against one.”
The EALA MP urged politicians to keep political disagreements focused on individuals rather than entire communities.
He said leaders should be allowed to criticise and even trade political insults with their opponents, but warned against turning such political fights into attacks on ethnic groups.
Sankok said criticism of Aden Duale, for instance, should not be extended to the wider GEMA community. He also said political attacks against President William Ruto should not be directed at the Kalenjin community, while the Maasai community should equally be kept out of political confrontations.
He warned that allowing ethnic labels to become normal in political discussions could have consequences far beyond campaign politics.
According to Sankok, continued profiling of communities could set Kenya on a dangerous path similar to the instability witnessed in Haiti, with the risk of fuelling genocide, post-election violence and state failure.
He said Kenya's own history had shown how quickly political differences could become dangerous when leaders and their supporters turned ethnic communities into political identities and targets.
Sankok said he had also taken steps to challenge ethnic stereotyping through the Kenya Fisi Alliance, an initiative he described as bringing together Kenyans from different communities who have intermarried.
“I have so far registered more than 20,000, and the registration is going on. These communities have intermarried. They have done business together. They have been neighbours. They have been business partners. We are one.”
He said political disagreements should not be allowed to destroy relationships that Kenyans have built across ethnic communities over the years.
With the 2027 General Election drawing closer, Sankok called on the government to protect citizens regardless of their political affiliations and urged political leaders to reject goons, ethnic profiling and inflammatory rhetoric as tools for mobilising support.