Party leader Martha Karua has sharply criticized voters in Malava Constituency, suggesting that the community effectively chose their new MP in exchange for cheap sleeping mattresses distributed during the by-election.
Speaking on November 29, 2025, Ms Karua questioned whether Malava residents – and Kenyans at large – truly preferred leaders committed to long-term development, or those who used “handouts like mattresses” to manipulate desperate voters.
Karua said it was troubling that an election would be decided not on leadership credentials, but on “who arrived with the most mattresses,” a reference to the viral video showing Kakamega Woman Representative Elsie Muhanda handing out mattresses, blankets, and cash to elderly residents in support of UDA’s David Ndakwa – who went on to win the seat.
“Those mattresses will offer a few nights of comfort,” Karua remarked. “But the same voters will face real pain when they walk into an underfunded, dysfunctional health facility that their chosen leaders failed to improve.”
Images circulating online showed voters in Malava receiving mattresses branded GOK on election day, a scene Karua said symbolised how bribery can easily overshadow genuine democratic choice.
Karua noted that despite heavy police deployment, the by-election was marred by violence, cars set on fire, intimidation of innocent voters, and widespread bribery – all of which she argued distorted the will of the people.
She urged Kenyans to see what transpired in Malava and other by-election areas as a warning, insisting that voters must not allow handouts to determine their future.
“If someone gives you a mattress, take it if you must,” she said pointedly. “But on election day, stop joking. That is the one day you fight for your future.”
Karua added that the United Opposition leadership would review the events surrounding the by-election and consider legal action, reminding citizens that Kenya’s constitution gives ultimate power to the people, not politicians.
Ending her address on a defiant note, the veteran politician said that regardless of current political games, the Ruto administration “will only serve one term.”