The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is investigating claims that university students were being offered money to register as voters in Wajir North Constituency.
The investigation follows a video recorded outside Kenyatta University on September 8, showing two men allegedly offering students between Ksh200 and Ksh1,000 to change their voter registration details.
The men, according to the video, claimed they were from Wajir. When confronted by students led by Kenyatta University community leader Vincent Maina, they allegedly said they had been sent by a Wajir County MP.
The claim has not been independently verified, and it is not yet clear which politician, if any, was behind the alleged exercise.
Maina, who recorded the video, was later summoned to DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road. He spent nearly five hours with detectives answering questions about what he had captured.
Detectives are also looking into 14 voter registration acknowledgment slips shown in the video. The slips were allegedly issued to newly admitted students and indicated registration in Bote Ward, Wajir North Constituency, with Welmura Primary School listed as the polling station.
The information on the slips and the circumstances under which they were obtained have not been independently verified.
Sources familiar with the alleged exercise claimed students were paid after providing proof that they had completed the registration process.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), however, said the presence of voter registration kits at universities is normal and does not on its own point to wrongdoing.
The electoral commission said it was working with security agencies to establish what happened and would take action against anyone found to have broken the law.
The two men captured in the video had not been located by the time the investigation was reported.
The incident has added to growing discussion around the conduct of the 2027 General Election and concerns over possible attempts to influence voter registration.
It also comes days after UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar made remarks about “the dead” rising to ensure President William Ruto wins the next election.
IEBC Commissioner Alutalala Mukhwana responded to the remarks, saying Kenya’s biometric voter registration and identification system would prevent deceased people from registering or voting.
“Biometric machines use fingerprints and iris scans. How will the deceased vote? How will they register?” Mukhwana said.