According to claims reported in Kenyan newspapers, Nimrod Mbai shared details of what he witnessed during the tense final hours of vote tallying in the controversial election that pitted Raila against then-incumbent president Mwai Kibaki.
Mbai said that at the time he was serving as a police sergeant attached to the security detail of government spokesperson Alfred Mutua.
He recalled receiving an unexpected call on December 30, 2007, when the country was anxiously awaiting the final presidential results.
According to him, he was later summoned and briefed on plans to ensure that Kibaki would remain in power regardless of the election outcome.
Mbai claimed that Mutua contacted him through a private line and instructed him to be prepared for a sensitive mission as the situation inside the tallying centre grew increasingly tense.
His task, he said, was to remain ready to escort the then chairman of the Electoral Commission, Samuel Kivuitu, to safety if violence erupted during the announcement of the results.
During the same period, disagreements reportedly emerged among electoral commissioners regarding the sudden change in voting trends. One of the commissioners, Jack Tumwa, is said to have questioned the late surge of results that appeared to reduce Raila’s lead.
According to Tumwa, some of the figures arriving late during the tallying process raised concerns among officials because they dramatically altered the earlier projections of the vote count.
Further claims also point to the involvement of influential figures who allegedly pressured media houses to broadcast the final results under controlled conditions.
A former media executive, SK Macharia, previously made similar remarks when he alleged that internal data available to his media organisation indicated that Raila had won the election by a margin of about 1.8 million votes.
Macharia claimed that some returning officers from the Mount Kenya region were allegedly detained and their official forms taken before the figures were altered.
He also alleged that he was taken from his home at night and later escorted to his office, where several individuals reportedly forced changes to the election data before the results were publicly declared.
The controversial election remains one of the most disputed in Kenya’s political history. After the results were announced declaring Kibaki the winner, widespread protests and violence erupted across the country.
The unrest, which followed the announcement of the results, led to the 2007–2008 Kenyan post-election violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The crisis was eventually resolved through international mediation, leading to the formation of a power-sharing government between Kibaki and Raila.
Although the election happened nearly two decades ago, the latest revelations have once again reignited debate about transparency, electoral credibility, and the lingering political wounds from one of Kenya’s darkest political chapters.
