People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua has confirmed Saitabao Ole Kanchory’s claims that Azimio la Umoja’s agent list was altered before the 2022 presidential election. She received multiple reports from across Kenya about trusted agents being replaced with unfamiliar names in the final days. The admission reignites debate over internal issues that may have contributed to Azimio’s defeat.
Martha Karua, popularly known as the Iron Lady, spoke in a televised interview on January 8, 2026, confirming reports she received in the two days before the election. “I cannot tell you that I checked exactly what was happening, but I received calls the last two days from many corners of the country from candidates, very angry, saying their list of agents had been trashed,” she recalled. She explained that the replacements damaged Azimio’s ground network, which depended on trained and loyal agents to safeguard votes. “For a candidate, agents are key,” she said. “So when you start hearing that Azimio did not have agents in some stations, it means false agents were planted.”
Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga had tasked Junet Mohammed with coordinating the agents. “All I know is that Baba entrusted everything to Junet,” Karua noted. The coalition never conducted a formal investigation into the changes after the election.
The day before, Saitabao Ole Kanchory claimed Azimio’s original plan for over 120,000 polling agents—three per station—was disrupted by internal interference. He accused Junet Mohammed, Makau Mutua, and Joe Mucheru of altering the list repeatedly. “Every morning, we had a new list,” Kanchory said in an NTV interview on January 7. Karua’s statements support parts of Kanchory’s and Edwin Sifuna’s allegations, sparking fresh discussion on whether mismanagement contributed to Azimio’s narrow loss to William Ruto by about 200,000 votes.
This year, Karua joined the United Opposition coalition earlier than in 2022 to avoid similar errors ahead of the 2027 polls. Her revelations have prompted calls for greater accountability in opposition ranks, with supporters demanding a thorough review of Azimio’s 2022 strategy.
